


The Great Escape

by GreenQueen86



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Assistant Jensen, Boss Jared, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, M/M, Texas, Wedding Fluff, Weddings, dating app, multi-millionaire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:34:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 23,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27699028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenQueen86/pseuds/GreenQueen86
Summary: Jensen Ackles is the personal assistant of Jared Padalecki, whose dating app “PadaMeet” made him a multi-millionaire. It’s the job of his dreams - great salary, a lot of traveling around the world, stays at luxury hotels. But no free time. His boss is a workaholic and he expects the same from the people that work for him.After three years, Jensen’s had enough.One last convention weekend in Las Vegas.He wakes up the next morning with a huge hangover and a ring on his finger...
Relationships: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Comments: 38
Kudos: 110
Collections: 2020 Supernatural Reversebang Challenge





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So here it is, my very first bang ever. The Supernatural reversebang.  
> I found a picture and prompt that spoke to me and I started writing all my ideas down and send them back and forth with my artist [AomaSade](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27698528) and my friend [Saramina80](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saramina80/profile) .  
> The result is the fluffiest story I've ever written so far, with great art that make the story come to life.
> 
> It was a great experience and I really hope you guys like what we've created.
> 
> I can't wait to read all your feedback.
> 
> Thank you so much for everything.
> 
> Enjoy the story <3

_ _

_ Oh, come rescue, rescue me _

_ From this Hollywood life _

_ Come rescue, rescue me _

_ From this Hollywood life _

_ (This Hollywood Life / Suede) _

**_March_ **

**_Friday night_ **

**_Jensen_ **

“We’re gonna meet Steph and Sebastian at the convention center tomorrow and I really wanna tell them about my new idea and convince them to join us. It would be so important to have them on board and support this new feature. That way we could place ads in their magazine and gain even more users…”

He just won’t stop talking. No matter how much time they spent together, Jared is always talking about the company. His business is all that counts. How many users they have and how they can gain more. How much profit the app made this month. 

They’ve been working together for three years now and Jensen knows pretty much nothing about Jared, except the stuff you can find on the internet. They live on the same property but they still only see each other when it’s about the business.

They travel a lot, they work a lot, they meet tons of people every day. There’s practically zero free time. Jensen’s lucky when he gets like five hours of sleep at night.

Jensen’s tired. Not only ‘I can’t keep my eyes open anymore and I already had 7 coffees this morning’ tired, he’s tired of this life. Every day is pretty much the same. He got this job at “PadaMeet” when he was 31 and being a personal assistant always was his dream job. Was. But lately his life only consists of work, jet lag and a few hours of sleep every night.

There is no excitement for business meetings anymore. Traveling a lot was one reason he agreed to do this job. But all he wants now is to be at his pool house for more than a few consecutive days.

Jensen has to be careful not to be snarky to customers and clients on the phone. He just doesn’t care for their problems or requests anymore. The biggest annoyance though is his boss, Jared Padalecki. Founder of one of the most popular dating apps “PadaMeet”. 

Jensen swears that if he rolls his eyes one more time, they will be stuck like that. 

Jared’s demanding , without realizing the consequences his behavior has on others. 

Jensen can’t remember the last time he had a day off. Sure, he gets paid very well, the pool house he’s living in is bigger than the house he grew up in. They always travel first class and the hotels they stay at are the best in the world. 

But it leaves him empty. The life he is living right now is too loud, too fast, there are too many people involved who always want something from him. Like Jared, who is still talking. 

It’s beeping in Jensen’s ear. An incoming call. He just raises his hand to signal Jared that he has a call to answer. “PadaMeet.” Jensen says. “How can I help you?” They’ve reached Jared’s office. “Yes. We’ll need a car to pick us up from the property at 6am tomorrow. Our flight goes from Van Nuys Airport. Okay, see you tomorrow.”   
  
Jensen closes the door behind them. “That was Jason. He’s going to pick us up tomorrow. I’ll just get the bag with everything we need for the convention and go home if you don’t need me anymore.” Jared is already at his desk, checking the ranking of their app for today. “What? Oh, yeah. You can leave. See you tomorrow.” And with that, Jared doesn’t pay attention to his surroundings anymore.

Jensen takes one last look around the office. Everything is black and white. There’s a lot of metal. It looks cold. There’s nothing warm or welcoming about this room. It only screams money and business. 

When Jensen closes the door to Jared’s office he’s made a decision. He’s going to submit his resignation on Monday. He needs to get away from this job, away from this town. Away from Jared.

  
  


**_Jared_ **

Jared’s very excited about the event tomorrow. They’ll meet a lot of new potential business partners. Even though the app is very successful, they can never have too much advertising supporting them. Jared needs to stay on top of all of this. He wants to continue being number one and he hopes that he will get the highly paid dating app award next month at the “Best Mobile App Award” in Los Angeles, the town he calls home since he moved here after college.

But for now, he’s excited for the dating app convention in Las Vegas tomorrow. He loves to travel, he loves the city, the parties. And he’s especially thrilled to go to a party in Las Vegas with Jensen. 

He feels stupid about this. Because he knows that nothing will ever happen between them. Jensen’s straight and no one here knows that Jared’s gay. But for a few days now, he wishes he could tell Jensen.

Jared came out to his parents at the age of 18 and since his family is very religious, they disowned him. There was no discussion, they wouldn’t even hear him out. A gay son was something they simply didn’t want to live with. It was one of the very, very dirty sins. In their eyes Jared was impure. They couldn’t get him out of their house fast enough.

While he was packing up his stuff, his father kept telling him what a disgrace he was to his family. Jared’s way to love was a sin. No matter how many times he tried to explain it to his parents, they would just start praying. He’s still not sure whether they prayed for him or for themselves.

Jared spent the next few weeks at one of his high school friend’s place until it was finally time to move to Cambridge. Far away from his family and his old life. Thank God he didn’t need any money from his parents, because as one of the top three in his class, he got a scholarship for Harvard Business School. Jared never felt loved or really accepted by his parents. He was there and they kind of tolerated him, but that was it. Being gay wasn’t his only “flaw”. He wasn’t his big brother Jeff, who was going to become a priest. In the eyes of his parents, Jeff was perfect. There was nothing Jared could do to hold a candle to his big brother. So he decided early on to move away for college. He desperately needed a fresh start. Jared didn’t know anybody at Harvard, so he was eventually able to be his true self.

Jared had his first serious relationship in college and they even got engaged. They were planning to get married right after their graduation. But six months before the wedding, Justin broke up with him because he fell in love with his study partner Anne. Out of frustration and to keep himself busy, Jared started to dive into one of his hobbies - App developing. And in spite of, or maybe because of what he was going through, he developed PadaMeet. One of the first dating apps back then. Fast forward eight years, Jared’s thirty and owns one of the most popular dating apps in the entire United States. He’s a multi millionaire. He worked hard for it, still does every minute of each day. He’s incredibly proud of what he has accomplished so far. And Jensen’s a big part of that success. But Jared wasn’t raised to talk about his feelings. That’s something only girls do. So instead of telling Jensen how grateful he is for what he’s doing for Jared and the company, he shows it. They always fly first class or take one of his private planes. They stay at the best hotels. He even got Jensen his own car. Jared makes sure that Jensen’s pool house gets refurnished and refurbished each year for his birthday. He gives Jensen everything he can buy him with money. 

It’s past 10pm when Jared finally leaves the office to go home for the night. 

He can’t wait for his fun weekend with Jensen to start. They will be in Vegas. And you never know what could happen in Vegas.

  
  


**_Jensen_ **

_ Dear diary, _

_ I did it. I wrote my letter of resignation and I am going to hand it in on Monday. I can’t be here anymore. I made a promise to myself back then, that I would only do this job as long as it’s fun. It stopped being fun months ago. I haven’t really slept in weeks. The few hours I get each night I keep tossing and turning. My mind is racing, I’m a bundle of nervous energy. I have to leave this job, this place, Jared. _

_ It all just blends together and each day feels the same.  _

_ Someone blew my candle out. _

_ I feel lonely even though I am pretty much never alone because where Jared is, I am too. But that’s always work related.  _

_ I get a refurbished and refurnished pool house for my birthday every year. But he never actually wished me a happy birthday. It’s like he just does this because I work for him. _

_ I wanna be around people, be with people. I need my life back. _

_ One last weekend and I am gone. _

Jensen puts his diary back in his nightstand drawer and turns off the light. 

He actually manages to catch two hours of sleep with weird dreams before his alarm pulls him back to reality.

He has thirty minutes to get ready and meet Jared at their car. 

One last weekend. Jensen couldn’t wait for Monday to come.

  
  
  
  


**_Saturday_ **

**_6 a.m._ **

**_Jared_ **

Jared’s buzzing with excitement to go to Las Vegas. He knows that it’s actually a business trip, but only until 5pm. After that the actual fun begins.

He did notice that Jensen didn’t look too good. Pale and tired. Dark shadows under his eyes. Jared decided to encourage him to use the massage chair on the plane. Hopefully, Jensen can relax and get some rest. They had a long day ahead of them.

“Good morning, Jensen.” He hands Jensen a travel mug of coffee the maid has made for him. “Morning,” is all Jensen says when he takes the mug and gets in the car.   
  


Jared had never seen him like that before. He’s afraid Jensen could get sick. That would take all the fun out of their weekend. Jared says a silent prayer that the coffee and massage will work wonders and that Jensen’s back on track when they get to Las Vegas.

“We’ll be at the hotel at around nine and have about an hour to get ready for the convention. First thing is the welcome panel with the hosts of the convention. After that we’ll do the app speed dating. We will sit down with a potential business partner and have one minute to talk about the app and convince them to invest or place ads.” Jared giggles. “This will be so much fun!” He smiles at Jensen, who still looks like shit. “Are you cold? Want me to turn up the heat?” Jared suppresses the sudden urge to comfort Jensen and touch his arm. “Nope. ‘M good.” Jensen doesn’t even look at him. Something’s going on and Jared can’t put a finger on it. He doesn’t feel like talking anymore. Instead he’s checking the schedule for today. The last panel ends at 5pm today. After that he was hoping to do some serious partying with Jensen. They haven’t had the chance to do that since they started working together, because whenever they traveled, meetings were running very late.

When they get to the small private airport, it starts raining.

  
  


**_Jensen_ **

He hoped that taking a cold shower would wake him up and hide the fact that he barely slept last night. Seems like that plan didn’t work. 

Jensen’s confused though. Jared’s acting weird today. He seems so nice and concerned. Jensen swears that he saw Jared’s hand moving toward him for a split second, like he wanted to show compassion or something. He rolls his eyes. Yeah, sure. Jared Padalecki and compassion. Dream on, Jensen!

They enter the plane and there’s a pot of hot tea at each of their tables. Jensen takes off his jacket and is about to sit down in his usual seat when he hears Jared calling him from the back of the plane. “Jensen, come here. I think you need the massage seat more than I do. Sit down, the seat is already warmed up. Here’s the remote to control the heat and the massage program. Just lean back and relax. We have a tight schedule once we arrive at the convention center. See you later.” 

Jensen’s totally confused. Who the hell is that guy? It’s definitely not the Jared he’s been working with for the past three years. He can’t recall Jared ever doing anything like that for his employees. Did Jared hit his head? Did he lose a bet? Jensen can’t worry about possible reasons for Jared’s strange behavior anymore. The heat of the massage seat is sinking into his muscles. It feels like a hug. Warm and cozy. He turns on the massage option and the hard massage balls are working their way from his neck down his back and pressing just the right spots. Jensen can feel the tension in his body loosening, he really sinks into it, eyes closed. After about five minutes he can feel that he’s drifting off into a dreamless sleep. 

  
  


**_Jared_ **

Jared doesn’t know what got into him. He always had a crush on Jensen, but he never acted on it because he knew that Jensen’s straight. But it’s like there was something turned on inside of him. It’s not just the crush thing anymore and taking care of Jensen because he’s his assistant. Jared wants to be close to Jensen. Physically. Touch him, hug him, comfort him. He has no idea where this is coming from. Because as far as he knows, those are things girls feel and do. 

This has to stop. This is a strict business relationship, nothing else.

Jared looks over at Jensen. He’s fallen asleep. Even though the light in the back of the plane is dimmed, Jared can see that Jensen looks relaxed. Peaceful. The urge to get up and cover him with a blanket is huge. But Jared resists, because how would he explain that to Jensen?

Oh, you wanna know how that blanket got there? You know, I have a huge crush on you for years and you looked so cute while you were sleeping and I didn’t want you to get cold, so I just covered you with it and watched you sleep for a while. 

That’s just creepy and he’s sure Jensen would run away immediately.

They are about to land and he can see that Jensen’s slowly blinking. He turns away quickly and pretends to read a magazine. This is just ridiculous! He’s not fifteen anymore. He’s a serious business man. Jared’s giving himself a mental slap in the face. Stop acting like a teenager. You’re here for business!

As they get off the plane he doesn’t know what to say to Jensen, because he’s afraid he’s going to say something stupid, so they just walk to the car side by side in silence.

  
  


**_Jensen_ **

He totally caught Jared staring at him when he woke up and Jensen has no idea how to feel about that.

This is going to be an interesting weekend for sure.

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See chapter 1

_ For better or for worse _

_ I'll be riding high _

_ Even if it's just tonight _

_ Or the rest of my life _

_ So come on, do your worst _

_ I'll stay here all night _

_ Cash out, cards down _

_ Or roll the dice _

  
  
  


_**Saturday** _

_**Las Vegas** _

_**Jensen** _

After he slept through the entire flight, Jensen really feels better. But it’s somewhat awkward between him and Jared that he didn’t even thank Jared for insisting on using the massage chair. Whenever they go to Vegas on a business trip, it’s Jared who books the hotel and he always manages to get the best rooms. This one has a living room, the biggest bed and softest sheets and a breathtaking view over the city. It’ll be even more amazing at night.

The convention is actually fun and they hand out a lot of business cards. They even make three new business partners who set up meetings in L.A. for the next week to work on details for their collaboration contracts. So the day was a big success. It’s 6pm and Jensen gets out of the shower, about to get ready to meet Jared at the hotel casino.

When Jensen arrives in the lobby, Jared’s already waiting for him with his favorite drink - Gin and Tonic. “Well prepared as always.” Jensen takes his drink out of Jared’s hand. “Here’s to a fun evening.” Both raise their glass and take a sip before entering the casino. 

Jared’s so nice to him and it’s very relaxed between them. Jensen’s not exactly sure what to do with that, because it has been all business until today. But he decides to enjoy the amenity of working for Jared one last time.

They decide to play Craps and they are really lucky because they are winning a lot of bets. “I had no idea that you’re such a gambler, Jared. I always assumed you aren’t into risky and fun things like that.” Their glasses are getting refilled and Jared takes a few sips before he answers. “There are a lot of things you don’t know about me. I gambled a bit for fun during college. But your game isn’t too bad either.” The smile he gives Jensen is different and there’s something in Jared’s eyes he hasn’t noticed until now. He shakes it off and blames it on the alcohol. After five drinks each and pockets full of casino chips worth $25000 they head for the cage to cash in their chips. 

The night is still young that’s why they decide to wander around the neighborhood to see if there’s anything fun to do. They stop at a few bars on their way and have a few more drinks, so both are fairly tipsy and the inhibition with each other is fading. They are joking like old friends, laughing, patting each other’s back. Jensen suddenly realizes that spending time with Jared can actually be fun. He wishes they had done things like this before.

That’s when they catch the sight of one of the famous Vegas wedding chapels.

  
  


_**Jared** _

“Jensen, look! We’ve finally found one of these famous wedding chapels. They really exist! Are you as drunk as I am?” When they stop in front of the chapel Jared grabs Jensen’s shoulder, struggling to keep his balance. 

It’s a small chapel, painted completely white with a big, flashy sign. It looks just like the ones you see in the movies. Jensen looks Jared straight in the eye, serious face. “I guess I’m even more drunk than you. You know I normally don’t drink that much.” And like he’s trying to prove his point, he loses his balance but manages to grab a street light pole. “ But it’s my first time partying in Vegas and I feel quite adventurous tonight.” Jared giggles. “Wanna play a game?” Jensen raises his imaginary glass. “Hell yes. We’re in Vegas!” He steps closer. “Truth or dare?” Without hesitation Jensen answers “Dare”. Jared crosses his arms in front of his chest and smirks. “Let’s get married. Here and now.” 

Jensen takes two steps back and looks at Jared in disbelief. “What ?” Jared grins. “We’re in Vegas. This will be fun. And we will definitely have a story to tell.” Jensen just shrugs his shoulders. “You’re right. We’re in Vegas! Let’s do it. Let’s get married.”

They link their arms and enter the chapel, giggling like two teenage boys. 

The front desk in the chapel is empty, so they just open the door to the wedding ceremony room and walk inside. “No one else is here. So we don’t have to wait. Come on.” Jared drags him down the aisle until they are standing in front of the altar. “Good evening ladies and gentlemen. One wedding please.” Jared’s sporting the biggest smile, standing at the altar, holding Jensen’s hand. 

The guy standing behind the altar, Jared thinks that his name tag says ‘Jerry’, looks at them and calmly says. “We’re about to close. You have to come back tomorrow.” Jared frowns. “No, we have to get married tonight. We’re leaving tomorrow. Pretty please.” He smiles at the guy with his big puppy eyes. Jensen’s doing the same now. “Yes, pretty please. We can make it quick. Please.” 

A woman emerges from the back room. “Good evening, gentlemen. We’re closing. Please come back tomorrow.” They both focus their puppy eyes on the woman. “Yes, he already told us. But we only have this one night. So pretty please.” Jensen steps forward, taking a rose from the decoration of the arch and handing it to her. “It would mean a lot to us.” She turns to the guy and they both whisper.

She smiles at them. “Okay. We’re gonna do it. Did you choose a song?” Jensen links his arm again with Jared and smiles at him. Jared could drown in Jensen’s green eyes. It’s the first time he can actually look him in the eyes without Jensen thinking that he’s a creep. Jensen’s smile is reaching his eyes and Jared has to hold himself back, because right now, he wants to kiss Jensen so badly.

“Yes, we want Elvis’ ‘Can’t help falling in love’” Jensen breaks eye contact and both of them are looking back at the woman. “Excellent choice. Did you bring rings?” Jared slams his hand on his forehead. “The rings. No. We forgot them at the hotel.” He looks at Jensen and both chuckle. “Oh, that’s no problem, we have some extras. They are five dollars each. You can pay for them afterwards.” Jensen squeezes Jared’s hand. “Okay, so we’re all set. Let’s go.”

The music starts playing as the man at the altar reads the short version of the speech. Jared can feel his heart beating faster when the officiant is asking the big questions. “Do you, Jared, take Jensen to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Jared smiles nervously. There’s no way he could have imagined their first night out in Vegas to end like this. He glances at Jensen, who smiles at him. “I do.” He feels like he’s being lifted from the ground. “Do you, Jensen, take Jared to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Jensen looks at him when he says “I do”. The woman hands them the rings and Jared’s hand is shaking when he puts the ring on Jensen’s finger. Jensen’s hand is steady when he does the same with Jared. They are still holding hands when the officiant says “By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and husband. You may kiss each other.” Jared’s legs are like jello. Is Jensen drunk enough to really do that? Kiss him? Jared has no time to prepare, Jensen just leans forward and plants a soft and tiny kiss on his lips. 

Jared stops breathing. He had imagined this for quite a while now and it went by so fast. Jensen’s lips are so soft. Jared can still feel Jensen’s mouth on his own.

The woman holds out her hand. “Congratulations! You can pay for the rings and the photos at the front desk. Have a nice evening.” And with that, they’re walking down the aisle, out of the ceremony room. Jensen raises his hand to look at the ring, giggling. “We really did it. You were right, Vegas can be so much fun!” 

They pay for the rings and photos and leave the chapel, walking back to the hotel. When they reach the entrance Jensen opens the door for Jared. “After you, husband.” They both burst out in laughter and head straight to the hotel bar. Sleep is for the weak and they have something to celebrate.

It’s 4am when they both crash in Jared’s bed.

  
  


  
  


_**Jensen** _

There’s a knock at the door. It might as well be a drill hammer. He hears someone say something at the other end of the door, but he can’t make out what it is. His head hurts so much, he’s sure it’s gonna burst any second. The curtains are closed but the little light that enters the room hurts his eyes. 

He’s moving slowly, stretching his arms and legs when he hits something soft and warm. He sits up, rubbing his eyes and looks to his left. There’s someone else in the bed. He blinks a few times and jumps out of bed, which was a big mistake, because gets dizzy. He has to sit down again and closes his eyes for a few seconds. When he opens them again, the guy is still there. “Jared?” The other guy turns around, looking at him, still half asleep. “Yes, you can stop yelling, please. My head hurts.”

This can’t be real. It’s probably the alcohol and he is hallucinating. He rubs his eyes again when he feels something hard on his left ring finger.

He’s wearing a ring. When he looks over at Jared, he’s in total disbelief. This can not be happening.

Jared’s also wearing a ring.

What the hell happened last night?

He gets up again, slower this time and grabs the edge of the nightstand because he gets dizzy again. But his hand slips and an envelope falls to the ground. Jensen crouches down to pick it up and look at what's inside.

The first thing he finds is a picture of him and Jared kissing. 

He throws the envelope at Jared. “What is that?” Jared takes the photos from the envelope, looking at each photo. “They turned out pretty good. Don’t you remember?” Jensen is putting on his shirt and pants, not looking at Jared. “No, I don’t. Do you?” Jared sits up. “Yes. I do remember. After the casino we wandered around and found a wedding chapel and we played ‘Truth or dare’ and you picked dare. So we got married.”

“We got married? We actually got married? This is not a game? A joke?” Jensen can feel his stomach clench.

“You wanted it too! You agreed that it would be fun. And…” Jensen’s moving towards the door of Jared’s room. “You’ve got to be kidding me! I was drunk! I probably would have agreed to jumping from the fucking Empire State Building! You know my tolerance for alcohol is low. I can’t believe this. I’m leaving.”

Jensen steps into the hallway. As he closes the door he hears Jared say something. He’s not sure whether he heard it right, because it did sound like Jared said “But I love you.”

Jensen has to get out of here. Right now.

He never thought that Jared could exploit him like that.

  
  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See chapter 1

_ Sitting here at home _

_ Thinking 'bout you all alone _

_ Wondering where it all went wrong _

_ Got a confession to make... _

_ Since you made me happier _

_ Now all I can do is hurt _

_ When you left you took my heart _

_ (Heartbroken/T2) _

  
  


**_Jared_ **

He’s not sure whether Jensen heard him or not. But it doesn’t matter right now. Jensen’s furious and Jared knows better than to follow him. 

Jared rummages in his suitcase to find some aspirin, because he also has a bad hangover. Obviously not as much as Jensen, but it still feels like someone’s sitting inside his head and happily hammering against his skull.

He actually takes two aspirin and then goes through the photos from the wedding again. They look good together. Kissing, holding hands. Jared looks down on his ring, rotating it, thinking hard about how they got them. But the entire evening is kinda blurry. They were at the casino, played crap, had a few drinks too many and they were wandering around. Somehow one of them had the idea to play ‘Truth or dare’ and Jensen chose dare. There’s a saying - children and drunk people always tell the truth. So that he suggested getting married wasn’t that big of a surprise for Jared. Okay, maybe a little. But he wants to be with Jensen and they were standing in front of a wedding chapel. So what else was Jared supposed to do? He didn’t think much about it, he kinda just blurted it out.

He didn’t plan any of this to happen. He was just looking forward to a fun weekend with Jensen, the first time in three years. 

He tries to get up to go look for Jensen, but he gets light headed at the attempt and has to sit down on the bed again. Everything is spinning and he has to lay back down. Before he drifts off into a hangover nap, his last thought is that he hopes he can talk things out with Jensen once both of them aren’t hungover anymore.

  
  


_**Jensen** _

What the hell was that? If Jared really said that he loves Jensen, then getting drunk, playing truth or dare and getting married was all set up by Jared. Jensen knew that his boss, well ex-boss, can be very ruthless. But never in a million years he would have thought he would do anything like that!

Jensen always wanted to get married, but not like that. He has almost no recollection of the wedding or what happened afterwards.

But why would Jared do something like that? Jensen always assumed that he was straight. Well, they actually never talked about it and his best guess was that Jared doesn’t have time for dating, and that’s why he was single.

Jensen’s still furious and when he gets to his room, he just throws all his stuff into his suitcase and pukes a few times before he calls Jason. “I need a ride to Van Nuys Airport. I’ll be downstairs in five minutes. Please call the crew at the airport to get the plane ready. I need to go back to L.A.”

When he’s done, he takes the stairs at the other end of the hallway, because he doesn’t want to risk running into Jared. He’d probably punch him.

Jensen makes an exception and rides shotgun, because he knows he’s getting sick in the back of the car when he has a hangover.

They get to the airport in thirty minutes flat and the engine is already running. He doesn’t care how Jared gets home. Jensen only knows he has to get there before him and pack up some things and just leave. 

He sits down in the massage chair, a bottle of water next to him and a cooling pad on his forehead and he drifts off again on his way back home.

He already feels better when he gets off the plane. One of the other drivers is waiting for him and this time Jensen is able to sit in the back.

He goes straight to the pool house when they arrive at the house and packs up his bedding, clothes, some books, his laptop, the content of his nightstand, including his diary. He packs the Impala as tightly as possible, knowing that he has to call or email Jared to ship the rest of his stuff when he has settled down at the new place.

He takes one last look around the pool house. Even though he spent most of his time outside the pool house, he’s still gonna miss it. 

Jared loves coffee, that’s why he leaves his letter of resignation by the coffee maker. That way he can be sure Jared will find it.

When he sits down behind the wheel he just cranks up the stereo and backs out of the driveway. He’s not using the route guidance system. Jensen knows where he’s headed and he’s looking forward to these extra hours on the road. Just him, his car, good music and the open road.

The journey is the destination.

  
  


_**Jared** _

  
  


When Jared wakes up he has no idea what time it is. He lifts his head but can’t see anything because something’s sticking to his cheek. He takes it away and looks at himself and Jensen kissing. 

The wedding. 

He checks his phone and realizes he slept for four hours. Jared’s slowly getting up to see if he’s still dizzy, but nothing’s spinning anymore, so he walks to Jensen’s room. He knocks a few times but Jensen doesn’t answer. He tries to call his cell phone but his call goes straight to voicemail. That’s when Jason calls him and asks if he’s ready to check out and go to the airport. “Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll be downstairs.”

Jared packs up his stuff and knocks one more time on Jensen’s door, but there’s still no answer. He takes the elevator to the lobby. During his check out the lady behind the desk informs him that Jensen checked out four hours ago. 

Jared’s both relieved and disappointed. On the one hand he doesn’t have to discuss what happened last night but on the other hand he kinda hoped that Jensen just went to his room to calm down and they could talk later.

“Did you see Jensen?” Jared tries to smile at Jason while he waits for the driver to answer. “Yes. Dropped him off at the airport about four hours ago. I think the plane just got back from L.A.” He opens the back door for Jared, who climbs into the car and tries to call Jensen again. He hopes that he just went back home and is waiting for him. This call also goes straight to voicemail.

It will be another three hours until he finds out if Jensen will be home or not.

It’s past 9pm when he arrives home. The pool house is dark, so he goes straight to the kitchen. He needs coffee to stay awake and find Jensen.

He turns on the kitchen light only to find an envelope next to the coffee maker. It has Jared written on it and he can tell that it’s Jensen’s handwriting.

Hands trembling, he rips the letter open only to find Jensen’s resignation. _Shit_.

Jared sits down on one of the stools at the counter, reading the letter again. But no matter how often he reads the letter, it’s always the same outcome - Jensen quit his job.

The pool house was dark when he arrived, so Jared knows he won’t find Jensen there, but he goes to look anyway. Maybe he can find out where he went.

He grabs the card with the code for the alarm system before he walks over to Jensen’s place. It’s dark and quiet when he enters the front door. When he turns on the lights he is shocked for a moment, because it looks like someone broke in earlier and searched the place. Seems like Jensen couldn’t get out here fast enough. Jared goes through some drawers in the living room, but can’t find anything that might help him to find Jensen.

Same goes for the bedroom until he crouches down in front of the bed and finds an old shoe box underneath it. He leans against Jensen’s bed and opens the box. The first thing he sees is what looks like a diary. It has some entries from when Jensen was twenty and between two pages he finds a photo of two men kissing. He takes a closer look and gasps when he recognizes Jensen. Jared turns the picture over to look at the back ‘ _Justin and I - Shoshone National Forest, Wyoming_ ’ .

He turns it back and keeps staring at Jensen who is kissing a guy and it doesn’t look like they’ve lost a bet or something. 

Jensen’s gay. Just like him. And no one ever made a move because both thought the other one is straight.

Jared closes his eyes and leans his head against the bed.

He could have asked Jensen out all this time but now he’s gone and Jared has no idea where to look for him.

  
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See chapter 1

_ I still don't know what I was waiting for _

_ And my time was running wild _

_ A million dead-end streets _

_ Every time I thought I'd got it made _

_ It seemed the taste was not so sweet _

_ So I turned myself to face me _

_ But I've never caught a glimpse _

_ Of how the others must see the faker _

_ I'm much too fast to take that test _

_ (Changes/David Bowie) _

  
  
  
  


_**Jensen** _

Jensen’s still on I 40 through New Mexico. Another seventeen to eighteen hours until he gets home. 

Before they went on the Las Vegas trip, Jensen decided to move back to his hometown , Terrell in Texas , and start working with his dad again. 

His family owns an antique furniture store “ Ackles Antique s  \- Furniture and finds” and Jensen used to assist his dad for years before and after college until he moved to L.A. to start his job at PadaMeet. 

He didn’t call his family before he left. There’s a plan forming in his head. When he arrives in Terrell at about noon he wants to go and look at houses right away. Jensen wants this to be permanent and he wants to have a plan before he meets with his parents.

The only stops he makes on his way are at rest stops to walk around for a bit, eat something ,  and use the restroom.

His phone is still turned off because he doesn’t want to deal with Jared for now.

He gets to Terrell at 12pm and drives  due north to see if there’s any real estate available. And today seems to be his lucky day. There’s a two story house for sale, made from bricks with a big white porch and a nice backyard. Jensen calls the real estate agent and she promises to be there in ten minutes.

In the meantime, Jensen just takes a closer look at the house and peeks through the windows.

When Olivia, the realtor, arrives at the house, he’s sitting on a bench at the porch, enjoying the view and the quiet of this place. He really missed that. It’s the first time he can hear himself think.

They take a tour around the house and it’s just perfect. The rooms are big, but not too big and there’s enough light coming through the windows. Jensen can picture himself living here, so he  signs the contract right away. Olivia hands him the keys and leaves. Jensen sits down on the bench at the patio again and takes in the fresh air. He feels like he’s finally where he belongs. He stays on the patio for another twenty minutes, just taking it all in and then unloads the car. Thankfully the house is completely furnished, so he starts unpacking and feels at home very quick. This is the first big purchase since he started working at PadaMeet. Jensen lived rent free at the pool house and saved most of his money, but he also sent a certain amount to his parents each month. He’s done unpacking at around 3pm and drives to the town center to do some grocery shopping. When he gets back to his house he puts the groceries away and is on his way to his parents and arrives just in time for dinner.

Jensen rings the doorbell and his mother opens and she’s screaming when she sees him. “Oh my god, Jensen, baby. What are you doing here? Why didn’t you call? Come in, come in. I have to call your dad. Sit down.” She walks to the phone in the corridor and leaves Jensen alone in the kitchen. He’s smiling from ear to ear. It was the right decision to move back to Texas.

When his dad arrives they sit down at the dinner table and talk while enjoying a home cooked meal. The first in forever for Jensen.

_**Jared** _

Jared goes through the rest of the box and finds some more family photos of Jensen. At least that’s what Jared thinks those are. It’s an elderly couple and another older boy and a younger girl. There are certain similarities so Jared is sure that these are Jensen’s parents and siblings. Jensen looks like he’s in his mid twenties, so these are definitely from the time before he moved to L.A.

A few of them are of Jensen and his family in front of a christmas tree which is standing outside of what Jared thinks is the Ackles ' family home. No one’s wearing coats or hats and the like, so Jared assumes that this must be taken in one of the south west states. 

They never talked about where Jensen’s from.

But this is something Jared can work with. Suddenly a heavy tiredness takes over Jared’s body and he puts the box away, climbs into Jensen’s bed and falls asleep.

He wakes up at 6, his usual get up time. Jared calls Jensen again and still gets only his voice mail. After he makes some coffee he calls Griffith, his co-partner, and lets him know that he’s taking the day off because he has to deal with a personal issue.

Jensen’s fridge is empty, so he calls Berta to make him some breakfast and bring it over to the pool house. 

Jared searches the pool house a bit more, but Jensen took all of his very personal things with him, except the box under his bed. 

After Jared has his breakfast, he goes back to the main house and logs himself into his work laptop. He remembered that they keep all of the application documents in their online system. Luckily they are well organised and it only takes a few clicks for him to find Jensen’s old CV from when he applied for the job at PadaMeet. All of his former work places are listed and the last place he worked was ‘Ackles Antique s ’. That has to be his dad’s store.

It takes Jared about twenty minutes to find the store on the internet and the address. Terrell, Texas. And he’s fairly certain that’s where he’ll find Jensen.

His biggest task for today was a success and he rewards himself with a visit to his in-house sauna and a few laps in his pool. When he’s done he sits outside by the pool and calls Griffith to set up an appointment for tomorrow.

He  has  set his mind on finding Jensen and this will be the first time someone else will be in charge for the company.

  
  


_**Jensen** _

Of course Jensen’s parents are eager to find out why he’s back in Terrell. At first he only tells them the part that’s not embarrassing. He left PadaMeet and L.A. because he was sick of all the stress, no free time, the hectic and all the noise. But his mom is still his mom and she knows that that’s only half of the truth. “Oh Jensen, honey. That’s one of the reasons. But why didn’t you call when you made that decision? There’s something else and I can see it in your eyes.” Jensen sighs. His mom knows him too well. She could always tell when something was off. 

“Yeah, that’s not the reason why I came here head over heels. Jared and I went to a dating app convention in Vegas this past weekend and we hung out at the casino, had a few too many drinks and somehow ended up getting married at one of these wedding chapels. I was so mad at him the next morning and embarrassed about what happened that I took  the plane  back to L.A., packed up most of my stuff and drove here overnight. I’m sorry I got married and you weren’t there.” To his surprise his mom starts giggling. “Relax Jensen. I assume you guys didn’t have a wedding license when you went to that chapel?” Jensen looks confused. “Of course we didn’t. We were drunk and played ‘truth or dare’ and Jared dared me to get married right then and there.” That’s the first time he realizes that he’s still wearing the ring. “You’re still single Jensen. I’ve recently watched a documentary about getting married in Vegas. You need a license to get married like you do in every city. I don’t know what happened in that chapel, but you’re not officially married.” 

Jensen’s surprised. Not so much about the fact that he’s not married to Jared, but more about the way it makes him feel. He was mad at Jared the morning after, but now he’s kinda sad that they’re not married. Jensen’s more than confused about these feelings.

But his dad being his dad breaks the silence and starts talking business with him. They will both go to the store together tomorrow and he’ll show him everything and they will work out a plan for Jensen to take over the business step by step.

It’s almost midnight when Jensen drives back home and spends the first night in his new house. As much as he wanted to be alone, when he goes to bed, he wishes he had some company.

He takes out his diary to write a new entry and happens to find a photo of him and Jared on the red carpet during one of the bigger events they attended. It’s the first time that he realizes how much the two of them look like a couple.

_**Jared** _

He meets with Griffith in the office the next day and his co partner is more than surprised to learn about Jared’s plan of taking a break for an undefined amount of time. Jared trusts Griffith and for the first time since he started PadaMeet there’s something more important than his work. He needs to find Jensen and make things okay between them.

They have a few more meetings during the next few days and early Friday morning Jared loads his car and is on his way to Terrell by 9am. He needs to talk to Jensen face to face. This is nothing a text message could fix.

  
  
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See chapter 1

_ Coz, I can't fight this feeling anymore _

_ I've forgotten what I've started fighting for _

_ And if I have to crawl upon the floor _

_ Or come crashing through your door _

_ Baby, I can't fight this feeling anymore _

_ (Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore/REO Speedwagon) _

  
  
  


_**Jensen** _

The rest of the week goes by uneventfully. Jensen sleeps like a rock for the first time in years and that alone changes his mood so much already.

Working with his dad is just as much fun as it was before he left and he’s getting back into it pretty quickly. Both of them work on a plan for Jensen to take over the store within the next two weeks, with his dad acting as a consultant when he’s retired. No one knows more about working with old furniture than his dad, who ran the business for the past forty years. Before that it was his father’s store, so it’s a real family business and Jensen can’t wait to make it his store.

It’s Friday evening and they lock the store and part ways for the weekend. When Jensen gets home he finally calls the office at PadaMeet to ask Jared to ship his stuff to his new address. But to his surprise it’s Griffith who answers the phone in Jared’s office. “PadaMeet, Mr. Padalecki’s office, Griffith speaking. How can I help you.” A few seconds go by before Jensen answers. “Oh, uhm, Hi. It’s Jensen. Is Jared there?” He kinda wants him to be there but he also still doesn’t really want to talk to Jared. “Hi Jensen. No, Jared is on a break for at least two weeks. I’m in charge. Is this something I can help you with?” Jensen has no idea if Griffith knows what happened in Vegas, but it actually doesn’t matter. “Yes, I guess you can. I still have some stuff left at the pool house that needs to be shipped to my new address. Could you arrange that for me?” Jensen gives him his new address and emails a list with all the things he wants shipped.

When he hangs up he’s confused because Jared never took a break before. PadaMeet is his baby and he’s taking care of it 24/7. But the weirdest thing is that he wonders if Jared’s okay.

**_Jared_ **

Jared feels strange for not working right now but he’s determined to find Jensen. 

Jensen leaving was the push he needed to finally realize what he actually feels for Jensen and that he himself has to start living. Work isn’t everything.

He’s about an hour from the hotel he’s staying for the night when he gets a call from Griffith. He lets Jared know that Jensen called to get his belongings shipped to his new place. Jared hasn’t told him about Vegas so he just asks for the new address ‘out of curiosity’. After they hang up he makes a voice memo with the new address so he can use it when he arrives in Terrell. 

Jared doesn’t unpack much when he gets to his hotel room. He has a small dinner and just crashes for the night. He still has a long way ahead of him before he gets to Terrell the next day. He dreams a lot and wakes up a few times but he gets enough sleep to feel refreshed and ready for the day when he wakes up in the morning.

He’s on the road for six hours now and the closer he gets to his destination, the greater the doubts. What was he thinking when he decided to go on a break and chase after Jensen? He made it pretty clear how pissed he was at Jared when he stormed out of that hotel room about a week ago. And in addition to that, Jensen hasn’t answered any of Jareds’s calls and there’s no guarantee that Jensen will even open the door, let alone talk to Jared. 

But he realized that something needs to change and this is like his only shot. That was his wake up call and even if Jensen refuses to talk to him, at least he tried. Jared doesn’t have to think ‘What if…’ for the rest of his life. No matter what happens, it’ll be okay.

There was the sign ‘Welcome to Terrell’ and the nervousness is really kicking in. It’s dark already and the windows of the houses he passes are lit. Suddenly he gets a homey feeling as he drives through Jensen’s hometown. Ten more minutes until he’ll be at Jensen’s house. This place here is the total opposite of L.A. It’s small, quiet, slow and very homey. It somehow reminds him of the small town he grew up. Jared drives through the residential area and finds Jensen’s house at the very end. It’s rather small compared to Jared’s house in L.A. but still pretty big compared to the other houses he saw when he drove through Terrell earlier. It’s made from bricks and has a white wooden porch. There’s light in the rooms facing the street, so Jared knows that Jensen’s home. He still spends another ten minutes in the car because he needs to talk himself into getting out of the car and walk up to the door and ring the bell. 

It’s stupid. It’s absolutely stupid. He’s a thirty-year-old man with a multi million dollar company but on the inside he’s the eighteen-year-old teenager who left his home because his parents didn’t approve of his sexuality. He’s afraid that Jensen’s gonna reject him and his feelings. 

It takes Jared nine attempts to actually walk up to Jensen’s door and ring the doorbell. He doesn’t really have a plan what to say or do if Jensen opens the door but it’s too late now to leave, so he’s anxiously waiting for something to happen. 

  
  


**_Jensen_ **

It’s 8pm on a Saturday evening. Jensen’s home, wearing comfortable clothes and is watching TV. This small town life is amazing. And if he really misses a buzzing city, parties, traffic jams and the like, he just has to go to Austin.

He enjoys staying home so much right now, that he ordered a pizza because he didn’t go grocery shopping today. It should be here any minute.

Five minutes later and the doorbell rings. That must be the pizza guy. Jensen walks to the front door, grabbing his wallet on the way and opens the door. But when he opens the door it isn’t the pizza guy waiting outside, it’s Jared. And before Jensen can say anything, Jared just leans forward and kisses Jensen. On the lips. Jensen’s so baffled when Jared breaks the kiss, that he just stares at him for what feels like an eternity. Then he blinks and slams the door shut.

He walks back to the living room, sinking into the couch, shaking his head.

“Is this guy for real? First we get fake married in Vegas because he dared me because he thinks it would be ‘fun’ and now he’s just showing up at my door, uninvited and kisses me? He knows absolutely no boundaries.” Jensen gets up and pours himself a glass of whiskey. He needs to calm down. He goes back to the couch and mutes the TV because he needs some quiet to think.

He sits down, sipping on his whiskey, thinking out loud. “ But he came all the way out here to find me, to kiss me. That most likely means he really said ‘I love you’ when I left the hotel room and that he’s also gay. Wow! This is some crazy stuff. And all this time I thought he was just too busy to date anyone. Does he really think that this is working on me? Showing up at my door and kissing me? I don’t think so, Mr. Padalecki. I don’t care how wealthy and famous you are. ” Jensen empties his glass and laughs. “Now look at this. I’m talkin’ to myself. Maybe I’m getting crazy and I was just hallucinating.” He walks over to the window and looks outside. Jared’s car is still parked on the street, so he is still there. Maybe even standing at his door, waiting for Jensen to come back. He bristles with anger. “Nope, not happening. I’m not opening that door. I’ll just go to bed. He can wait outside as long as he wants to. I’m not talking to him.” Jensen turns off the TV and the lights and goes straight to his bedroom. Jared can have his pizza. He’s not hungry anymore.

He crawls into bed, still fully dressed. Jensen takes his old cell phone out of his nightstand drawer and turns it on. All the missed calls from Jared pop up. Forty missed calls from Jared. The last one is from five minutes ago.

Jensen wants this to stop. He came to Terrell to escape L.A., his job and Jared. He wanted to start over. So he sends Jared a text.

“Just fucking leave. I’m done with you.” 

He turns the phone off, puts it back into the drawer and just listens to the crickets outside his bedroom window as he falls asleep.

Tomorrow’s a new day.

  
  
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See chapter 1

_ I'm breathing slow _

_ I don't do this all the time _

_ And if it's not returned _

_ I know it'll all be fine _

_ But i don't know how to tell you this _

_ I'll just come off as a fool _

_ This'll either be a hit or miss _

_ Be ready in 1, 2, 3 _

_ (I Don't Know How to Tell You This/Faith Ling) _

  
  
  


_**Jared** _

Okay, that was not what Jared expected but he’s not sure what he expected anyway. He gets back in the car and just watches the house go dark. His phone rings a few minutes later and it’s a text from Jensen.

_ “Just fucking leave. I’m done with you.”  _

Damn. This is gonna be harder than Jared thought. But he doesn’t wanna leave like this, he can’t. They need to talk about what happened. Jared needs to make this right. Even if Jensen doesn’t return Jared’s feelings, he at least wants to make sure that they get this Vegas thing sorted out and part ways on good terms. 

Jared can be extremely determined when he sets his mind on something.

He’s already thinking about ways to make Jensen realize that he cares for him and really needs to talk to him, when the pizza guy arrives. Of course Jensen doesn’t answer the door, so Jared gets out of the car and walks up to the pizza guy and just pays for the pizza. He didn’t eat anything since he left the hotel, so this is just what he needs right now.

It’s past 9pm when Jared makes a U turn and drives back to the Bed & Breakfast he saw earlier. He hopes that they have a room for him for the night.

Jared’s lucky, they’re still open and have one room left.

He’ll go back to Jensen’s house tomorrow and see if he changed his mind.

Jared returns the next morning and as he looks around he notices a ‘For Sale’ sign in front of the house across from Jensen’s. He immediately calls the real estate agent and they arrange a meeting for 10am. Jared goes to Jensen’s house and rings the doorbell, just like he did last night. But he knows better than to kiss Jensen this time if he opens the door. 

Which he doesn’t. Jared returns to his car and calls Griffith to check on PadaMeet. Everything’s okay in L.A. so this is one less thing he has to worry about. Jared opens his laptop and does some more research about Terrell. Might as well learn something about the history of the town he’s going to live in.

The realtor is a woman named Olivia and she gives him a tour of the house. It has a huge living room with an open kitchen and even a small gym. Most of the windows go all the way from the ceiling to the floor, which lets a lot of natural light in. The entire house is revetted with white bricks, which makes it looks like Jared’s house in L.A. It comes with a big backyard including a pool and a bbq place. And just as Jensen a week ago, he signs the contract right away and Olivia leaves him with the keys. 

A few minutes later he leaves to get his belongings from the Bed & Breakfast and starts settling in. He needs to come up with a plan to make Jensen talk to him and he needs to start now. He has no time to waste.

  
  


_**Jensen** _

Oh my God. Jensen can’t believe it. He was watching Jared from his bedroom window after he rang the doorbell and Jared really bought the house across the street. Why would he move to Terrell? Does he want Jensen to come back to L.A. and PadaMeet? No. Jared kissed him. Jensen’s sure that’s not what ex bosses do to get their assistant back. Something’s fishy about that but Jensen can’t put a finger on it yet. 

Jared came back twenty minutes ago and he brought his suitcase into the house. Nothing happened since then, so Jensen goes back to watching TV.

It’s cold when Jensen leaves for work the next morning. When he opens his front door he finds the newspaper, a thermos jug and a box with a sandwich on his doorstep. He’s pretty sure that was Jared. Jensen’s torn between taking it because he doesn’t want the food and drink to spoil and just leaving it there because it’s from Jared. But he overslept so he just takes it with him to the car. Jensen has a feeling this won’t be all.

When he gets home from work the lawn in front of his house is mowed. Since he doesn’t have a gardener or anything like that, he’s sure that was also Jared.

He catches himself checking out Jared’s house from time to time, but he doesn’t get to see him, so he sits down at the kitchen island, reads the newspaper and eats the potato soup his mom brought to the store today.

Jensen would actually go for a jog later, but he’s afraid of what he’s gonna find when he returns. So he stays home and does one of the cardio home videos and goes to bed at 10pm. He’s meeting with his dad at 7.30am tomorrow. They’ll go meet some of his dad’s regular customers and he wants to introduce Jensen as the future owner of ‘Ackles Antiques’.

He’s tempted to check his phone before he goes to sleep, but he decides that he had enough of Jared for one day.

_**Jared** _

Jared makes a long list with things he’s gonna do to show Jensen that he’s really sorry. He wants Jensen to at least talk to him. And if that requires him to make a complete fool of himself, so be it.

Since they both had coffee together for pretty much every day for the past three years, he knows how Jensen likes his coffee. Two teaspoons of sugar and one third milk. And Jensen loves avocado sandwiches. Jared got up early to prepare both for Jensen and put it on his doorstep. He was happy when he saw that Jensen took all of it with him. He’s definitely gonna do that again tomorrow. 

Jared hopes that Jensen’s work schedule is the same everyday so that he has enough time to prepare the next surprise. He plans to go to the garden center tomorrow and buy a ton of flowers. He’s never done anything like that before, so he hopes he does it right. He’ll ask for advice from the people at the garden center.

He’s very excited to see how Jensen likes what he has planned.

  
  


He got up at 6am to prepare Jensen’s coffee and the sandwich and put it on his doorstep. After he had breakfast himself he kept an eye on Jensen’s house to make sure he didn't miss Jensen leaving.

Jared spends more than an hour at the garden center. The previous owners of his house left a lot of garden tools in the garage, so Jared buys flowers, soil, fertilizer, gloves and a pair of these special work pants.

When he gets back home he starts with his project right away. He has two-and-a-half hours until Jensen returns from work and he needs to be done by then. He carries the flowers, soil, fertilizer and the tools to Jensen’s house and he’s already sweaty. Now the actual work begins and Jared digs holes, puts the flowers into the holes. He wishes he had some help, but he knows he can do it alone, it just takes a little more time. Luckily he can use the garden hose from Jensen’s house to water the plants. He steps back a few meters and has a look at it. There are six big pink and white peony bushes in front of Jensen’s patio and it looks beautiful. When he was searching for clues about Jensen’s whereabouts back in L.A. he found a few books about gardening and most of them had small bookmarks at the chapters about peonies, so Jared figured that these might be Jensen’s favorite flowers. 

Half an hour before Jensen’s supposed to get home. Jared loads everything into the wheelbarrow and takes it back to his garage. He takes a quick shower and then waits by his living room window to watch out for Jensen.

A few moments later Jensen parks his car in the driveway. 

Let the show begin.

**_Jensen_ **

When he went to work this morning he kinda knew he would find another thermos jug and a sandwich on his doorstep and he was right. Jensen decides to put both jugs in front of the door in the evening, so Jared can have them back.

But when he drives by his house in the afternoon something’s different, but he can’t tell what it is. He turns off the engine and gets out of the car, walking back on the street so that he can have a better look at the front of his house. And it only takes him a few seconds now to see what’s different. There are six white and pink peonies in front of his patio. Big bushes, ready to bloom. He presses his hand on his mouth and goes ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ and ‘so beautiful’. Jensen’s not sure if Jared’s watching him but he turns around anyway and looks at Jared’s house. He’s damn sure that this is his work. He walks up to his patio and crouches down in front of the bushes and smells them. It’s like heaven and reminds him of the peonies his grandmother had in her garden when Jensen was a little boy. His grandma died ten years ago, but this definitely takes him back to his childhood. He has no idea how Jared did this, but it’s really sweet. But no matter how sweet that gesture is, he’s still not ready to talk to him.

Instead he calls his mom. 

_ Ackles. _

_ Hey mom, it’s Jensen. _

_ Hi sweetheart. Is everything okay? _

_ Yeah, well. I told you about Jared and what happened in Vegas and something weird happened the past weekend. _

_ Yes, you told us. What happened? _

_ Jared showed up at my house on Saturday evening and without saying anything he kissed me. _

_ Oh! _

_ Yes. I was so shocked that I just slammed the door in his face. Can you believe this? At first he suggests this weird thing in Vegas and he shows up at my house and kisses me. _

_ When you talked about him you never mentioned that he is gay. _

_ I didn’t know! He never had any dates or anything so I assumed he is straight and just doesn’t have time for dates. He never said anything or made a move. I’m just as surprised as you are. But that’s not everything. _

_ It’s not? What did he do next? _

_ On Sunday he bought the house across the street and when I went to work on Monday there was a thermos jug with coffee, the newspaper and a sandwich on my doorstep. Same today. I’m sure that was Jared. _

_ Well, that’s a very nice gesture, don’t you think? Did you talk to him? _

_ It is a nice gesture but no, I didn’t talk to him. I moved here to get away from the job, L.A. and Jared. He can’t just move in across the street and do stuff like that and expect that it makes everything okay again. When I got home today there were six white and pink peony bushes in front of my patio. The lawn was mowed when I came home from the store yesterday.  _

_ But it seems like he’s trying really hard to make up for what happened. Buying a house here is a bit of a weird thing to do, but everything else seems really nice. _

_ There’s something else I didn’t tell you when I told you about the wedding. When I left the hotel room the next morning, I think I heard him say, “But I love you.” He is...was my boss. What am I supposed to do with that? _

_ Jensen, talk to him. You don’t know what’s behind all this if you don’t talk to him. _

_ I know you’re right mom, but I’m not ready yet. I guess if he goes on like that it won’t be long ‘til everyone here knows about it anyway. Thanks mom. Love ya. Bye. _

_ Bye, sweetheart. _

Jensen knows his mom is probably right, but this is all so crazy that he needs time to find a way to deal with it. 

Right now he decides to just run away from it, literally. Jensen always loved to jog and it’s especially great right now because he needs to clear his mind.

When he comes back an hour later everything’s the way he left it and he takes a hot bubble bath and goes to bed.

It’s Wednesday and just like the days before there’s a thermos jug with coffee, a sandwich and the newspaper on his doorstep when he leaves for work. In the afternoon he finds a balloon tied to the rail of his patio. It’s a big rainbow and it says ‘Sorry’. Jensen instinctively looks over to Jared’s house but he can’t see him. He hadn't seen him since Sunday afternoon when he came back from the Bed & Breakfast.

On Thursday he runs into Henry from the local newspaper during his lunch break.

“Hey, Jensen. Nice to have you back. How are things going? I heard you’ll be the owner of your dad’s store soon. Congrats.” He pats Jensen on the back. Henry is still the skinny, tall guy he was in high school with the blondest hair Jensen has ever seen. “‘M good, thanks. Yeah, we’re preparing for my dad’s retirement. It’s nice to be back.” And Jensen means it when he says that. L.A. was an exciting experience, but in the end it was too much for Jensen. He’s made for small town life. “Did you see the poem in the newspaper? That Jared guy sent in ten poems and already paid for them to be printed.” Jensen looks more than confused. “Poems? I only scan through the newspaper for garage sales. Jared. Do you mean Jared Padalecki?” Henry looks like a beaten dog. “Yes, that guy. I didn’t mean to spoil the surprise.” Now it’s Jensen who pats Henry’s back. “Don’t worry. But why did you ask me if I saw the poems?” Henry’s smile is insecure when he looks at Jensen. “Because they’re for you. I thought you knew. I gotta go, Amanda’s calling. See you around.” And with that he disappears in the crowd at the market.

Jared’s publishing poems for Jensen in the local newspaper. He doesn’t know what to say. When he gets back to the store he takes the newspaper from the trash can and searches for the poem. And really, Jared had a poem published dedicated to Jensen.

_ For Jensen _

_ (From Jared) _

_ Time Is _

_ by Henry van Dyke _

_ Time is  _

_ Too Slow for those who Wait, _

_ Too Swift for those who Fear, _

_ Too Long for those who Grieve, _

_ Too Short for those who Rejoice; _

_ But for those who Love, _

_ Time is not. _

It’s a lovely poem and another thing Jensen didn’t know about Jared. When did Jared have the time to enjoy poetry? This guy is full of surprises and secrets.

When Jensen leaves for work on Friday he’s actually disappointed that there’s no coffee waiting for him and he’s kinda worried if Jared’s okay. 

This time Jensen buys the newspaper himself on his way to the store and sure enough there’s another poem.

_ For Jensen _

_ (From Jared) _

_ Sonnet 18 _

_ by William Shakespeare _

_ Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? _

_ Thou art more lovely and more temperate: _

_ Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, _

_ And summer's lease hath all too short a date: _

_ Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, _

_ And often is his gold complexion dimmed, _

_ And every fair from fair sometime declines, _

_ By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed: _

_ But thy eternal summer shall not fade, _

_ Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st, _

_ Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade, _

_ When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st, _

_ So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, _

_ So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. _

Wow. Shakespeare. Go big or go home. Jared seems really determined. When it’s time to close the store Jensen’s both scared and excited to get home.

On his way home Jensen sees signs in many front yards he drives by. When he has to stop at a traffic light he actually gets to read one of the signs. It says ‘Jared 💖 Jensen’.

Jensen’s sure his mom called all her friends and told them about the poems and all the other things Jared did.

He’s officially screwed. The entire neighborhood is now part of this.

When Jensen drives by his house to park the car in the driveway he can’t see anything special about his house. But when he walks up to his front door he finds something big and square wrapped in wrapping paper leaning against the door.

He picks it up and rips off the paper and almost faints when he realizes what he’s holding in his hands. 

It’s a photo from the Texan actress Alexis Bledel. It’s not just a framed photograph. It’s signed, ‘ For Jensen, Love Alexis’. Jensen has to sit down on the bench, the photo still pressed to his chest. 

  
  


_**Jared** _

Jared smiles from ear to ear while he watches Jensen’s reaction. He called his college friend Toby last night and called in a favor. While he was searching the pool house after Jensen left for Terrell he found the box set with all seasons of ‘Gilmore Girls’. Those were the only DVD’s he could find in the entire house. There was no doubt - no one has a box set of a TV series at home if this isn’t one of their favorite series, if not the favorite series. So Jared left at 5am this morning to go to Houston to meet Alexis and have her sign the photo for Jensen.

And Jensen’s reaction was priceless. Jared doesn’t mind the trouble he had to go through to make this happen. Earlier today Henry called and told him that he met Jensen yesterday and told him about the poems. Jared’s pretty sure that Jensen read at least the last two.

He already thinks about what he can do tomorrow to show Jensen that he cares for him. Jared wants to make sure that Jensen knows he’s not the shallow business man Jensen got to know while the two of them worked together.

  
  


_**Jensen** _

This is the most amazing thing someone has ever done for him. He’s watched Gilmore Girls like a million times. It’s his all time favorite TV series. And now he’s holding a photo of Alexis Bledel in his hands, signed just for him.

A few minutes later he goes straight into the living room and takes down the picture of some random houses that was already there when he moved in and puts up the photo of Alexis Bledel instead. And then he just sits at the couch and stares at the photo for a while. 

Right then and there he decides that he can’t hold a grudge against Jared anymore. This guy went above and beyond for five days to show him that he cares for Jensen. He goes to his bedroom to get his old cell phone from his nightstand drawer and sends Jared another text.

I’m about to make dinner. Wanna come over?

Jensen takes the phone with him and goes back down to the kitchen and starts preparing dinner. Pasta with spinach and goat cheese. Simple but delicious.

He’s done it so many times but suddenly he can’t remember what spices to use. 

Jared could be here any minute. 

He feels a little sick. No. A lot actually. 

But he pulls himself together. Five minutes later the pasta is boiling and the chopped onions are frying. He adds the spinach, goat cheese and spices and lets it simmer for a bit when the doorbell rings.

That must be Jared.

Jensen takes a deep breath before he opens the door.

Jared smiles at him and it’s the first time that this causes a weird feeling in Jensen’s chest.

What the hell is happening?

  
  


**_Jared_ **

  
  


Jared’s still staring at the text message from Jensen. He wants him to come over for dinner. That’s what he was working towards all these days and now that it’s finally happening he doesn’t know if he can actually go over there and have dinner with him.

But he has to. They need to talk. 

Jared changes into a clean shirt, takes a last look in the mirror, puts on his shoes and leaves his house.

“ Hey, thanks for inviting me over. Nice apron by the way.” Jared smiles his biggest smile. 

Jensen’s wearing his Batman apron.

“Hey Jared, come in. Dinner’s almost ready.” Jared takes his shoes off when he enters Jensen’s house. He loves the old wooden floor and the way Jensen decorated the place. He has to walk through the living room to get to the kitchen and he smiles when he sees the photograph of Alexis Bledel hanging on the wall already.

Jensen puts two plates out on the kitchen island. Before putting the food on the plates he says, “As far as I remember you’re not allergic to anything, right?” Jared shakes his head. “Nope, I’m not. And whatever you make smells fantastic.” He sits down at the kitchen island and takes the plate Jensen is handing him. Pasta with spinach and goat cheese. He never ate pasta like this, but it smells good. And to be honest, Jared had no idea Jensen could cook. There’s so much he doesn’t know about Jensen.

“I brought something to wash the dinner down. Some ‘Couch wine’ my friend Stephen gave me.” Jared’s so damn nervous. Suddenly he’s not sure why he’s here, what he’s gonna do. He wanted Jensen to talk to him. And now that they’re here, in Jensen house, together, he doesn’t know what to say.

“Let’s go to the living room. The couch is more comfortable.” Jensen takes his plate, fork and wine glass and leads Jared back to the living room.

When both of them sit on the couch no one says a word and they are just eating in silence. Suddenly Jensen puts his fork down.

“I still don’t know why you did it, but the things you’ve done for me over the past week, the coffee, the flowers, poems and the autograph from Alexis Bledel, are the most beautiful things someone has ever done for me. And I wanna thank you for that, Jared. But I am also mad and embarrassed about what happened in Vegas. Not as much anymore as I was when I left, because I found out we aren’t actually married. But what the fuck was that all about? Getting married in Vegas? Did you plan this before we went on that trip?” Jensen puts the plate down on the coffee table and just looks at Jared.

He was somehow expecting this to happen, but he thought he would have at least until after dinner.

“Well, that’s kinda hard to explain. But first, no, I didn’t plan to get married to you in Vegas.” Jared doesn’t feel like eating anymore and puts his plate down too. He turns to face Jensen. “Are you gay, Jensen?”

Jensen’s eyes go wide and he’s about to open his mouth but then his face goes soft. 

“Yes, I’m gay. And you’re also gay, aren’t you?” Jared smiles. “Yes, have been for the longest time.”

“But why have you never said anything? I mean, we’ve been working together for three years.” Jensen clings to his glass of wine after he takes another sip. 

“Because it didn’t matter for the business. My sexual orientation never mattered for the business. And what difference would it have made if you’d have known?”

“I don’t know. That’s a huge ‘what if’. But again, why did you suggest getting married when we both were totally drunk?” Jensen looks at him with green eyes that leave no doubt that Jared can’t walk away from this without explaining himself. This is gonna suck big time, but that’s what he came here for, isn’t it?

“Well, you might not like it. I’m sure you won’t like it. So please, just let me finish before you get mad again, okay?” Jared looks at Jensen and searches for something in his face that leaves a small hope that this might end good. Jensen just nods, barely visible.

“So, I hired you because of your qualifications, but over time I realized there was more to you than just your organisation skills. I kinda developed a thing for your enthusiasm for your job. We both share the same passion. We want things to be perfect and we spend a lot of time on it to make sure it really is perfect. But I also started to like spending time with you because of you. It wasn’t work related anymore and that somehow scared the crap out of me. And then you started to act strange a couple of weeks ago. You were there, physically. But your mind was somewhere else. Your passion was gone, you didn’t talk to me any more than necessary. I kinda felt like I was losing you and I guess when we both got drunk together and stood in front of that chapel my subconscious decided that this was like my last straw. I’m sorry Jensen. You know that’s not me. But it somehow felt good at that moment, you know?” Jared takes a deep breath and looks at Jensen.

“So you did say ‘I love you’ when I left your hotel room?” Jensen’s expression is kinda blanck. Jared can’t tell if Jensen will like it or not when he tells him he did say it.

“I did.” And then he just waits for Jensen’s reaction. 

“Fuck, Jared.” Jensen gets up and walks over to the window and just stares outside.

_**Jensen** _

Jensen wanted to find out what led to all of this. But he didn’t exactly expect this confession from Jared.

“Why didn’t you say something?” He turns around, but stays by the window, so he can look at Jared but keep enough distance.

“Would it have mattered? Would it have changed your decision to leave? After I found your letter of resignation I knew that my feeling was right the morning we left for Vegas. The letter was dated Friday, so you already knew you would leave. Why didn’t you say something? Why did you leave anyway? I’ve been wondering about this since I found the empty pool house.” Jared’s cheeks are flushed and Jensen can see deep lines on his forehead.

“I just couldn’t do it anymore. I was exhausted, there was no passion for the job anymore. I was tired. Physically and emotionally. This job became so damn stressful, so many people, so many appointments and deadlines. Everything became too big and too loud. Too much. I needed to get away from the job, from L.A. and from you.”

Wow. Why did he say that? Well, it’s the truth, but Jensen’s not sure yet if he’s ready to discuss this with Jared. It’s too late now anyway.

“From me? Why from me? What happened? Did I ever treat you wrong?” Jensen can hear the concern in Jared’s voice. Guess he hit a weak spot.

“I don’t know Jared. Maybe I was starting to have feelings for you and you didn’t quite leave the impression that you actually cared for me as a person, and not just your assistant Jensen Ackles. Maybe I was too scared to admit that to myself. So I just left.” He opens the door to the backyard because somehow he feels like there’s no air left in that room.

“But Jensen, I got you a car, the best hotels, first class flights. I refurbished and refurnished your pool house every year for your birthday. I thought you knew how much I appreciate you and your work!” Jared looks surprised and hurt. Like a beaten dog. Jensen wants to comfort him but he doesn’t move.

“But you never said it. You never said ‘Happy Birthday’. You never said ‘Well done, Jensen. Good job’. You never said it. I assumed you just did all that because you felt obliged to do it because I work for you.” Jensen can feel the fire in his stomach. He’s enraged and hurt. Sad. He hasn’t felt this emotional in years.

“Oh my god, Jensen. I’m so sorry.” Jared gets up and walks over to him. They are standing face to face now and Jared looks him right into the eyes. “Jensen, I’m sorry I ever made you feel that way. I never had someone I loved to work with as much as I loved working with you and doing all these things was my way to show you how thankful I am for you and your work. I had no idea it made you feel the exact opposite.” He takes Jensen’s hand and leads him back to the couch.

“I guess I really need to tell you more about me and where I come from.” He sits down and Jensen does the same.

“I know where you’re from. You’re from Alabama.” 

Jared chuckles. “ Yes, but that’s not what I mean. I need to tell you more about my family background so you understand some things about me.” Suddenly he feels Jared’s hand on his knee and he looks him in the eye. “You wanna hear it?”

Of course he wants to hear it. He somehow needs to make sense of all of this. “Yes, please. This is a bit confusing right now. I will just lean back and let you talk.”

Jensen pours some more wine into his and Jared’s glass and leans back while drinking his wine.

This is going to be interesting.

  
  


_**Jared** _

  
  


If he has to pour out his heart for Jensen to understand why he did what he did, so be it. There’s nothing left to lose anymore.

“As you already said I’m from Alabama and you might also know that Alabama is one of the most religious states in the US. My family was absolutely no exception from this. My older brother Jeff became a priest. He’s the perfect son. Everything my parents ever wanted. And I am the absolute opposite. No matter what I did, how good I was in school, I was never as good as Jeff. I was like a burden to my parents. I still don’t know what I did wrong. They tolerated me but they never were affectionate towards me. They never told me that they were proud of me. Not even when I won the tech fair at my high school for a computer program I wrote. To them, the internet was a bad thing. It gives you access to so many things that could get you on the wrong path. I somehow still think that’s what they believe happened when I told them that I’m gay when I turned 18. They threw me out right away. I was their big failure. Me being gay was one of the biggest sins. Dirty. They wouldn’t even let me explain it to them. To them I was possessed or something. Instead of talking to me they just kept praying. I moved to Cambridge to go to Harvard Business School and that’s where I could finally be myself. No one knew me. I was able to start over. I met Jake a few weeks after the beginning of the semester and we started dating shortly after.” Jared looks at Jensen who really seems to listen, eyes focused on Jared.

“We became a couple, even got engaged and we were planning on getting married after our graduation. We were a great group of friends and I finally started to live my life. Six months before our graduation Jake broke up with me because he fell in love with a woman. I was devastated, I felt lost. I really thought that’s it. We would get married, move in together and live happily ever after. All these dreams were destroyed, so I just buried myself into app development, played around a bit and created ‘PadaMeet’. The rest is history. I moved to L.A. and I was glad that I was too busy to have another serious relationship. And honestly too scared. Which is kinda funny because I make money with getting people into relationships and I never tried to have one myself after Jake called off the engagement. And then you came along and I started to really like you and did all these things for you to show you how I feel just to find out that it had the completely reversed effect on you.” He smiles at Jensen, tears in his eyes. He hasn’t told anyone that before. “I haven’t talked to my family since the day they threw me out.” He snuffles and wipes his eyes. “I didn’t tell you all of this to make you feel bad for me. I just want you to understand how I became who I am today.” 

Nothing happens. Jensen just looks at him. Did he fall asleep with his eyes open?

“Wow, that’s a lot to take in. I need more wine. You want some more, too?” Jensen gets up and walks over to the kitchen.

“Yes, please.” Jared leans back into the couch and closes his eyes. He hopes he doesn’t have to sell his house and go back to L.A. after that confession.

  
  


_**Jensen** _

Jensen’s head is still spinning. That was a big ass confession and more trust in him than Jensen expected from Jared. He poured his heart out in front of Jensen.

Jensen’s not mad anymore. Instead he has the urge to tell Jared about his past, maybe he can understand the decisions Jensen made that both led them here.

“Forget about the wine. Here’s some whiskey. I think we both need it.” He hands Jared a glass. “I hope you like your whiskey with ice.” Jensen gets back on the couch and turns to Jared, raising his glass. “Here’s to more emotional crap from the past.” They both clink their glasses, take a sip and Jensen says, “So, I guess it’s my turn now.” He clears his throat.

“Unlike you, my family always loved and supported me. It was no big deal when I came out to them. So I guess I had more luck with that than you. But I didn’t really know what to do with my life when I turned eighteen and finished high school. But instead of pressuring me into anything, my parents let me go. I was travelling the country, working whenever and wherever I needed money. I had just started working as a volunteer at Shoshone National Forest when I met Justin. We both maintained trails, restored stream banks and I even did some office work. I loved being outside all day. Everything is so wide and free. Justin and I worked together each day for many hours and soon realized that we had feelings for each other. So we dated for nine months. I had been away from my hometown and my parents for three years when I started to really miss it. So I decided to go back.”

Jensen empties his whiskey and refills his glass. The bottle still in his hand he asks Jared, “Do you think you need more alcohol?” Jared smiles and shakes his head. “No, I’m good. What happened with you and Justin?” Jensen takes another swig of whiskey and continues. “Well, he wanted to travel, see the country and not ‘die of boredom in a small town’ so I broke up with him. It crushed me and I needed my family more than ever. I loved him so much and to suddenly find out we wanted completely different things in life was tough. It took me a long time to get over him and he’s still an important part of my life, even though I haven’t seen or talked to him in over ten years. I started working with my dad at the antique store and realized that I like working as his assistant and decided to get my bachelor in business support and administrative services. After I graduated I continued to work with my dad, learn some more and make connections in the business world. Dad and I made plans for me to take over the business when he retired. One weekend I attended a business fair and learned about PadaMeet. I wanted to try something new before settling down in Terrell.” He puts his glass down on the coffee table and smiles at Jared, who looks exhausted.

“And that’s the story of how we both met. I still think you win. Your story is way more sad than mine.” Jared smiles back. “A sad victory. But I take it.” Jared turns his head towards the kitchen. “Do you have ice cream by any chance? Something with peanut butter and cookies?” Jensen jumps to his feet. “You want the half a liter container or the one liter container?” His head disappears in the freezer. “The one liter container and bring two spoons.”

Jensen comes back to the living room and puts everything on the coffee table and turns on the stereo. “Hungry eyes” by Eric Carmen is playing. The blood rushed to Jensen’s head and he’s about to change the CD when Jared puts his hand on Jensen’s arm. “I like that song.” Jensen puts the remote back on the end table and opens the ice cream container and hands Jared one spoon.

“Mmmmh, that tastes awesome. But you still haven’t told me why you never asked me out?” Jared takes another spoon full and looks at Jensen expectant. “Well, first of all you were my boss. Second of all I had no idea that you were also gay. And I knew that I wouldn’t be working for you and staying in L.A. forever. So after what happened with Justin I wouldn’t allow myself any feelings for you or anyone else while in L.A. You seem so in love with your job, so happy to be in L.A. that I was sure you would never move somewhere else. But now you’re here, living across the street. What are you gonna do? Stay here? Go back to L.A.?” Jensen leans forward to get another spoon full of ice cream, and waits for Jared to answer. “To be honest, I don’t know yet. I came here because I wanted to be with you. Wanted to let you know that I’m sorry for what happened in Vegas and to tell you how I feel. So this entire thing is up to you. If you want to give this, us, a chance, then I’m gonna stay. If you don’t have any feelings for me and want me to leave, I’m gonna sell the house again and go back to L.A.”

So this time it really seems to be up to Jensen.

“This is a lot you’re asking from me. All I can say is that I want you to stay for now. I really enjoy this evening with you, so just let’s keep eating ice cream, drink whisky and talk. The church and the court house are closed, so we don’t run the risk of getting married again while drunk.” They both laugh and Jared raises his glass. “Here’s to not getting married tonight.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter 1

_It's been awhile since I felt this feeling that everything that you do gives me_

_It's been so long since somebody whispered_

_Shut up and kiss me_

_(Shut Up and Kiss Me/Mary Chapin Carpenter)_

  
  
  


_**Jared** _

He locks the door of his house at 5am. Jared’s tired but also walking on clouds. It was so good that they finally talked about everything. He’s tipsy, but no one got married tonight. At least not him and Jensen.

Jared barely gets out of his clothes before he falls onto his bed. He’s reaching for the lamp on his nightstand when the light reflects in the wedding ring he’s still wearing. When he was over at Jensen’s he realized that Jensen’s also still wearing the ring. So he either forgot to take it off or he’s still wearing it because he wants to. 

Jared hopes that this is a good sign and Jensen is ready to give them a chance.

He turns off the light and falls asleep.

_**Jensen** _

Jensen enjoyed the evening with Jared and he wishes he would have talked to him earlier.

When he goes to bed he takes off the cheap wedding ring to use some hand lotion and puts it back on when he’s done. He hasn’t slept one single night without it since they got fake married in Vegas. And by now he knows that this is what he was feeling all along. 

He wants to be with Jared but he was too scared and too proud to admit that.

But he promises to himself that this is going to change today. 

The lights in Jared’s house are turned off, so he decides to also go to sleep. He waited three years, he’s sure Jared will still be there when he wakes up.

Jensen sleeps in because it’s Terrell Jubilee weekend and the store is closed anyway. He has some leftover pasta for lunch and then leaves to drive to the market because needs to pick something up for tonight.

When he’s back in his car he texts Jared. “Are you free tonight?”

It only takes thirty seconds for Jared to respond. “Yes. What’s the plan?”

Jensen smiles. Now it’s his turn. “It’s a surprise. Gonna pick you up at 4.30pm.”

  
  


It’s 4.25pm when Jensen leaves his house with flowers in his hand. He’s nervous even though he has known Jared for three years already. But this is different. Because if Jared says yes, this is gonna be their first date.

**_Jared_ **

A surprise. Jensen’s gonna pick him up any minute now and Jared feels weird. His throat is dry and his hands are sweaty. 

Jared’s waiting right by the door and he giggles when he sees that Jensen is so surprised when he opens the door at the same time he rings the doorbell, that he jumped.

“Oh, uhm. Hi, Jared.” He looks so cute, all puzzled, like he didn’t expect Jared to be home. And he brought flowers. What’s going on?

“You brought flowers?” Jared hopes he didn’t come off rude. But he’s so freaking nervous.

“Yes, I brought flowers for you.” Jensen holds the flowers in front of Jared. “Jared, would you go on a date with me?” Now it’s Jared who goes all pale, like he’s about to faint “A date. Wow. Yes. Of course. But why? Oh, uhm. No, that came out the wrong way. I am happy that you wanna go on a date with me, but I uhm.” Jensen puts a hand on Jared’s shoulder. “Relax, Jared. You’ve done such sweet things for me the past week and I just can’t be mad at you anymore. I don’t wanna be. We’ve already wasted three years, I’m not gonna waste another day. Ready to go?”

“Yes! That sounds fantastic. Just let me put the flowers in a vase real quick.” 

A date. A date! They’re going on a date. Jared has to hold himself back because otherwise he would dance and sing and squeak. Finally. He’s going on a date with Jensen.

“Ok, let's go. What are we doing?” Jared locks his door and they both walk down the driveway. He would love to at least link arms with Jensen, but he feels he shouldn’t rush things now that Jensen’s finally on board.

“I don’t know if you know about it, but it’s Terrell Jubilee this weekend and I’d like to take you there. There’s a bbq cook off, music, tons of rides and a firework at midnight. If it’s still as good as it was when left three years ago, I’m sure you’re gonna love it.” 

It’s nice to be out and about together. Jared’s excited for their first date.

And Jensen wasn’t lying when he said that Jared’s gonna love it. There’s so much food, candy and music. Jared wins a teddy bear for Jensen at one of the booths. It’s only a small one with a hook for the keychain, but Jensen puts it on one of the belt loops of his jeans. It’s almost midnight when Jensen suggests to get in line for a ride on the ferris wheel. Jared’s never been on one in his entire life. But he’s going to be with Jensen, so it’s gonna be fine.

  
  


**_Jensen_ **

  
  


Since this isn’t his first Terrell Jubilee, Jensen knows that the fireworks are best seen from the ferris wheel. They get in line a few minutes before midnight, and he hopes they get on it in time.

Being at Terrell Jubilee was always special for different reasons. When Jensen was a child he loved staying up late for the fireworks. His parents would give him and his siblings some extra money to go on rides and buy candy. It was one of those special nights each year which were topped off with the fireworks at midnight. Jensen remembers when he would sit on his dad’s shoulders at midnight. It’s pure magic. Anything can happen during a firework display

It’s five minutes before midnight when the ferris wheel starts moving. Jared and Jensen are sitting close together and he can feel the butterflies in his stomach. And they’re not just from being up high on the ferris wheel. 

He turns to face Jared. “There’s one thing I’ve been wondering the past week - how did you know that I love peonies? And that Gilmore Girls is my favorite TV series? I don’t recall that we’ve ever talked about things like that?”

They’re both holding on to the safety loop of the ferris wheel and Jared’s moving his hand closer to Jensen’s. “Well, when I got back home from Vegas that night, the pool house was empty and I had no idea where you went. So I searched the pool house for any clues. I realized that you have a lot of books about flowers and gardening. And each book had little bookmarks at the pages about peonies, so I figured they gotta have a special meaning to you.” His hand moves even closer to Jensen’s and their pinky fingers touch. “And there was this one DVD boxset. The only one in the entire pool house. And I have a friend who works with Alexis Bledel and I called him to arrange a meeting with her. That’s how I got the autograph for you.” Jared puts his finger on top of Jensen’s.

“That was really the sweetest thing someone ever did for me and I’m sorry I misjudged you all these years. Thank you, Jared.” Jensen can see that Jared wants to say something when the fireworks explode and bathe the sky in the most wonderful colors. They both look up at the sky to follow this magical spectacle. He turns to Jared and Jared’s totally lost in the fireworks, like are the first ones he has ever seen in his life. That’s the moment Jensen realizes he wants more of this. He wants more of Jared. And since anything can happen during a firework, he grabs Jared’s face, closes his eyes and kisses him. The butterflies in his stomach go crazy, his head is spinning and it’s like the firework symbolizes the feelings between them which finally erupted after all these years. It’s their third kiss and Jensen finally pays attention to how it feels to kiss Jared. His lips are soft and warm, he can smell Jared. It’s a mix of aftershave, candy cotton and something Jensen can’t describe. But he knows it’s the best smell in the entire world.

He breaks the kiss just to put his forehead on Jared’s and says what he wanted to say the entire evening, but didn’t have the courage to. “I love you, Jared and I’m sorry it took me so long.” Jared kisses the tip of Jensen’s nose before he just whispers, “I love you, too. And all that matters is that we’re together now. It all starts here and now. What happened is in the past. You and me together, now. That’s what counts.” 

The last sparkles of the fireworks disappear when the ferris wheel starts moving again. When it’s their turn to get off the ride, Jared takes Jensen’s hand and they walk over to one of the picnic tables and sit down, just watching the stars until it’s time to go home.

  
  


**_Jared_ **

Suddenly it all happens so fast, that Jared’s not sure if he’s dreaming or if this is really happening. And like Jensen senses his thoughts, he grabs Jared’s hand like he’s saying ‘I’m here and I’m not going anywhere without you’. 

They both have a couple more drinks and some waffles when Jared suddenly gets really tired. It’s been kind of two long nights in a row. “ I don’t wanna be a party pooper, but I’m tired.” Jensen entwines his finger with Jared’s and looks at him, the moonlight reflecting in his eyes. “I’m tired too. Let’s go home.” 

Their walk back home at night, with the stars and moon above them is so damn corny, it could be right out of a dime novel.

They reach their houses after a thirty minute walk and since this is all still so new, Jared just leans over and kisses Jensen on the cheek. “Good night, Jensen.” 

He turns around to walk back to his house but Jensen won’t let go off his hand. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” He gets pulled back by Jensen. “Home, into my bed. I’m tired.” Jensen just starts walking towards his own house. “We’ve wasted three years, Jared. I’m not being away from you for another night. You’re staying with me.” They’ve already reached Jensen’s porch. “Okay, okay. So does that mean we’re a couple now?” Jensen unlocks the door and giggles. “Of course we are! Now let’s go to bed.”

  
  


_**Jensen** _

  
  


This time he’s shocked to find the place next to him empty when he wakes up in the morning. Where did Jared go? Jensen’s about to get up to look for him when a naked foot appears in the doorway, pushing the door open.

It’s Jared and he’s holding a cup of coffee in each hand.

“Hey, I was just about to get up and look for you. C’mere.” Jensen pats on the bed, waiting for Jared to sit down and hand him the mug. “I’m still surprised that you can do all of this on your own, without any domestic worker.” He takes a sip. “Mhhh, and it’s still the best coffee I’ve ever had.” Jensen puts the mug on his nightstand and scoots closer to Jared who gives him an offended look. “You do remember that I had a life before PadaMeet where I had to do everything on my own?” Jensen puts a hand on Jared naked thigh. “I really tend to forget that sometimes. And there’s something else I’ve forgotten. Maybe you can help me refresh my memory.” He smirks at Jared, but he doesn’t seem to get the hint. “Okay, which would be?” Jensen rolls his eyes and gets on Jared’s lap. “I don’t remember how it feels to kiss you.” Jared puts his hands on Jensen’s cheeks. “That’s something I can help you with.” He closes the distance between them and plants a very soft kiss on Jensen’s lips. They stay like this for a few seconds, just feeling the other one. Jensen leans back until his head hits the pillow. He turns over on his side, Jared next to him and they keep kissing and touching each other for what feels like an eternity until Jensen breaks the kiss. They are still close to each other, so close that Jensen can see his reflection in Jared’s amber eyes.

“There’s something I have to tell you, Jared.” Suddenly the deep furrow between Jared’s brows appears. “Uhm, okay.” Jared clears his throat, “What is it?”.

“I want you to sell the house across the street.” 

Silence.

“Jared?” He snaps out of his trance. “What?”

“I want you to sell your house and move in with me.” Jared leans forward again, kissing Jensen and mumbling, “Consider it done.”.

_**Jared** _

They’re both in the kitchen, having dinner. Jared feels good. He’s having dinner with the man he loves, they’re going to move in together. This is the life he actually always dreamed of. Having a partner, sharing meals in a cozy home, talking about God and the world. That’s all he ever needed and until today he was sure he’d never have it. Which is ironic, because his fortune is built on giving people just that.  
  


And in a way, after eight years, his dating app is the reason why he finally found his true love. It took a little longer than necessary because they took some detours on the way, but they are finally where they belong. 

Jared wipes his mouth with a napkin and puts his hand on Jensen’s to get his attention. 

“So, there are a few things we’ll have to discuss. One, I can put up the house for sale tomorrow morning. The few things I brought with me fit in two suitcases. We can go over after dinner and pack up my stuff and bring it here, if you want to.” 

Jensen puts down his fork and squeezes Jared’s hand. “That’s a great idea. I’m glad that you’re not wasting time.” He kisses Jared on the cheek, which lets his butterflies loose.

“And since Griffith is already in charge of PadaMeet for a week now and I don’t really miss being there in person, I thought I could sell him one of my two parts of the company. This way I still have a say in what happens with PadaMeet, but it’s not my main responsibility anymore. I also want to sell the property in L.A. and make this here our home. Permanently. Is that okay with you?” Jensen takes Jared’s hand and pulls him to his feet as he gets up. He puts his hands around Jared’s waist, gets on the tip of his toes and kisses him. “This is exactly what I want, Jared.”

They both settle down on the couch in the living room, and Richie Sambora’s “In it for love” is playing in the background

_Love is a road_

_Forever winding_

_Where it leads us I don't know_

_In it together_

_For better or worse_

_Searchin' for our pot of gold_

It really was a long winding road that led them here, but they’ve both found their pot of gold.

“Now that you won’t be busy with PadaMeet 24/7 you need something else to do. What do you say if ‘Ackles Antiques’ is going to become our store. Our own little family business. We’re both good at working with clients, on- and offline. I could do all the behind the scene stuff, lend a hand with preparing the furniture, pick up and drop off etc. And you could do what you’re good at and what you love : making lists, helping update and maintain the website, coordinating orders. You could make flyers, decorate the showroom. You have an eye for the pretty things. We could start something new here, together.” 

Jensen looks Jared in the eye and it feels like Jensen’s touching something on the inside without actually touching him. Jared was always on the run, everything always had to be bigger, better, faster. All he ever wanted was to do something big and great so people would like him. He knows that he did all of this because he wanted the love of his parents more than anything. Even after they threw him out. They are still his parents. But deep down Jared knew all this time, that he wanted to be loved for himself. For the person he is and not for what he had achieved over time. And Jensen is doing just that. He wants to be with him, here in this small town. Starting over, just the two of them. Without fame and glory.

“Thank you, Jensen. I’m so glad that you were willing to look behind the facade of the successful businessman to see me, Jared, and who I really am. I would be honored to work with you and build a new life with you.” Jensen’s warm and soft thumb is wiping away some of Jared’s tears before he pulls him in for a long hug. Jared buries his face in the crock of Jensen’s neck and lets Jensen hold him. They’re sitting like this for about half an hour, Jared holding on to Jensen, and Jensen caressing Jared’s hair with long and gentle strokes, like he’s trying to say ‘I’m here. It’s gonna be okay’. 

Jensen slowly lets go of him and grabs his face, trying to look him into the eye. “You alright, Jay?” Jared wipes his nose with his sleeve. “Yeah, I’m fine. Gonna go call Griffith and our lawyer to let them know. If I could I would have signed these papers rather yesterday than next week.” Jensen kisses Jared’s forehead. “I know. If you want to, you can call them from my office. It’s at the end of the hallway upstairs. I’ll be watching some tv and waiting for you. You got this.” Jared squeezes Jensen’s hand one last time before he gets up to make the call that will change his entire life.

_**Jensen** _

Jensen’s still shaken up a bit. He had no idea that him asking Jared to be his partner would cause such an emotional reaction. But on the other hand he’s kinda proud that Jared feels safe enough with him to open up like that. 

Jensen can’t wait to tell his parents and that’s why he calls his mum while Jared is still dealing with PadaMeet.

_Ackles_

_Hey mum._

_Jensen, honey. How are you? Alan, it’s Jensen._

_I’m good, mum. I wanted to ask you if I could come over for dinner tomorrow._

_Of course, sweetheart. I’m making spaghetti with sausage. Oh, and Mackenzie will be here as well. She just got back from the medieval fair. It will be great to have you two home for dinner. I’ll see you at 7. Night sweetheart._

_See you at 7. Night mom._

His little sister will be there and Jensen just knows that she’ll love Jared. He’s nervous about tomorrow night, because he has no idea how his dad will react to his proposal of Jared becoming his business partner. But his mum is there and she obviously loves Jared already, even though she never met him. 

Jensen takes a deep breath. It’ll all work out just fine.

“Who was that?” Jensen jumps off the couch. “Jesus, Jared.” He falls back on the couch. “Come, sit. That was my mom. I invited us for dinner tomorrow. My sister Mackenzie will also be there. I didn’t tell her about us yet, I wanna do that when we’re all together tomorrow evening.” Jared snuggles up to Jensen, entwining their fingers. “Oh, that sounds good. From what I’ve heard so far, your mom is cool. Both of your parents are, because they raised you.” He winks at Jensen and kisses him. 

“You’re terrible, Jay. Really. How did your phone call go?” If it’s possible, that’s the moment Jared gets even closer to Jensen, putting his long legs on top of Jensen’s thighs, his head on Jensen’s shoulder, Jared’s soft hair tickling Jensen’s face.

“Good actually. Griffith already suspected that something like that might happen, so he was prepared for that call. We both had a conference call with our lawyer and he will get the papers ready tonight and they will be here tomorrow morning. A courier will drop it off at your place, our place. I still have to get used to that.” He shuffles around a bit and now his head is in Jensen’s lap. Jensen automatically starts caressing Jared's locks as he continues to speak. “So we should be able to leave that behind before we start our own store here and tell your parents tomorrow night. What do you think if we change the name a bit, so that it’s clear that it’s kind of something new but still stays in the Ackles’ family?” Jensen can see the sparks of enthusiasm in Jared’s eyes. He’s already completely immersed in his new role. It’ll be fun to see this side of Jared, being equal partners.

“I love the idea and I was already playing around with combinations of our name. What do you say if we change the stores’ name to “Padackles Antiques? If you like it, I also have a new shop design ready.” Jensen grins, excited and a little bit apologetically. “That’s a good name. It combines our names but it’s still ‘Ackles Antiques' Very clever, Jensen. Now show me the design.”

“Can you hand me the tablet please?” Jared reaches over to the coffee table to grab the tablet. “See, it’s still pretty similar to the old design, so people recognize the store. But it’s also a little more modern since this is a new generation of shop owners. What do you think?” Jared stares at it like he’s waiting for the sign to say something to him. “Jensen, that’s amazing! I had no idea that’s one of your talents. That’s some solid work here. Well done! We have to show this to your parents tomorrow.” Jensen can feel his face getting hot. He’s sure he just turned red as a tomato. It’s the first time Jared has ever said anything like that to him.

“Thank you. I’m flattered and red like a tomato.” Jared kisses his cheek. “And it looks super cute. It’s obvious that I should compliment your work more often.” A kiss to the other cheek. “Let’s go to bed now. We have a long and busy day ahead.”

Jared takes Jensen’s hand and they both walk upstairs.

“I can’t wait to see what you’re capable of when you do some hard work with your hands.

_**Jared** _

The new contract arrives while they are having breakfast together. Jared already had a copy faxed to him earlier, so he just signed it, and gave the second copy back to the curier. 

When Jensen leaves for work, Jared calls Olivia, so they can get his house in Terrell back on the market. He also calls his real estate agent in L.A. so he could get his property ready for sale. He and Jensen will definitely have to go to L.A. again for a few days to pack up the rest of their belongings and maybe sell some of it because this house is much smaller than the one in L.A.

And since Jared wants to leave a good first impression he buys flowers for Jensen’s mom and Mackenzie and Scotch for his dad. 

Jared leaves at 6.30pm to pick Jensen up from the store. He’s damn nervous. It’s been like an eternity since he last met someone’s parents. But the whole town was rooting for him and Jensen, so this will hopefully be a nice family get together.

He’s at the store at 6.45pm and Jensen’s already waiting outside for him.

“You didn’t need to buy me flowers or Scotch. I’m already on your side.” Jensen says chuckling as he gets in the car. “You’re silly Jensen. I know you’re on my side. But I still gotta win your family’s heart, so I’m trying to be the perfect gentleman tonight.” He starts the engine and they’re at Jensen’s parents house ten minutes later.

Jared’s nervous and excited and just wants to get it over with. “You can ring the doorbell now.” It only takes like five seconds before the door is thrown open and a young woman practically jumps into Jensen arms. “Oh, it’s so good to see you. I almost forgot what you look like.” She lets go of Jensen and turns to Jared. “Hi, I’m Mackenzie, Jensen’s little sister and you must be Jared. My mom already told me so much about you.” And before he can respond to that, she hugs him, her cheek pressed to his chest and her arm wrapped around him as tight as possible. She’s strong for a woman her size. When she lets go she steps back a bit and smiles at Jared. “Yes, I’m Jared. Nice to meet you. These are for you.” She takes the flowers and buries her face in them and takes a deep breath. “They are beautiful, Jared. Thank you. But now come on in, mom and dad are waiting in the kitchen.” She pulls Jared inside yelling, “Mom, Dad, Jensen and Jared are here. And they brought presents.” 

They are taking off their jackets when Jensen’s parents appear in the doorway. “Jensen, darling. Come here. Give your momma a hug.” Jensen and his mom seem to be really close with each other. That’s something he never had with his parents. “And Jared. It’s so good to finally meet you.” And without hesitation she pulls Jared down for a hug. “Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Ackles. These are for you.” He hands her the flowers and tries to give her a relaxed smile. “Oh Jared, these flowers are beautiful. Thank you, sweetheart. And you can call me Donna. That’s Jensen’s dad, Alan.” Jared shakes his hand, he has a very firm grip. Rough skin. He can feel that Alan was working with his hands for decades. “Hello, sir. Nice to meet you.” Jared is running his fingers through his hair. This feels like being called into the headmasters office. “Hello, son. Do you want me to put the bag away.” Alan extends his arm towards Jared, who has no idea what he is talking about. “Bag? Oh, that one. No, this is for you, actually. I hope you like Scotch.” Jared takes the bottle from the bag and tries really hard not to lose his grip, because his hands are extremely sweaty. 

“Now look at that. It’s like you knew that I just finished my last bottle yesterday. Thank you.” He smiles at Jared, and that smile is so full of kindness that Jared gets a weird feeling in his stomach. He had no idea how much he’d missed that kind of affection. He clears his throat before he can say anything. “You’re welcome.”

He’s not gonna cry.

“Come, let’s eat. Donna made pasta with sausage. It’s Jensen’s favorite dish.

They eat together, laugh and talk and it’s an incredible feeling to be part of this family. “So, Jensen, you finally decided that you’re not mad at Jared anymore?” Donna asks with a smile while handing Jensen a plate with a brownie. “No, mom. I’m not. In fact, I took Jared on our first date at Terrell Jubilee on Saturday and we’ve decided to move in together. Jared already sold the house across the street.”

His mom squeezed both Jared’s and Jensen’s hand. “Oh, honey. That are(is?) great news! Congratulations you two.” She’s about to get up to get some champagne when Jensen holds her back. “Mom, wait. There’s something else we need to tell you.” Donna sits back down and looks at Jensen, curious as to what he has to say. “Mom, Dad, Jared sold one part of his company in L.A. so that he can stay here while Griffith, his partner, has the main responsibility for the company. Jared’s also gonna sell his property in L.A. and we would like to become equal owners of the antique store.” Jared can see the corner of Jensen’s mouth twitching and puts his hand on Jensen’s to calm him down. “What do you say?” 

Jensen’s dad just claps his hands and gets up from his chair. “Donna, get the champagne, I’ll get the Scotch.” Jensen’s glance switched between his mom and dad. “So you’re okay with this?” His mom hugs him from behind. “We are, Jensen, we are. This is such a great opportunity to bring a breath of fresh air to the business.”

His dad comes back with the Scotch and after everyone is served, he makes a toast to “a new generation of Ackles Antiques” 

They’re celebrating the rest of the evening, talking about the new name, the assignments for the different tasks and Jensen proudly presents the new design for the store.

Everything went so much better than expected and feels like he’s got a new family.

And suddenly, the thought of growing old in a small town seems inviting.

  
  


_**Jensen** _

When they get back home that night, they have their own little celebration.

Now they can finally start their life together.

  
  



	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See chapter 1

_ I, I'm so in love with you _

_ Whatever you want to do _

_ Is all right with me _

_ 'Cause you make me feel so brand-new _

_ And I want to spend my life with you _

__

_ (Let's Stay Together/Al Green) _

  
  
  


_**Jensen** _

  
  


It’s late June and the business is going pretty well. They renovated the store's front and put up the new sign. Jared created new flyers and they even had a very successful opening party. 

The store is going so well, that they have to hire additional help to keep up with all the orders.

Back in May they were finally able to sell the property in L.A. 

Jared’s flying to L.A every two weeks for two days to have in person meetings with Griffith. The rest of the time he spends with Jensen.

They are both very busy with the store, but they’ve created a schedule that still allows enough free time, so they wouldn’t end up making the same mistake they did in L.A. 

On some weekends they even go away for two days, hiking, riding their bikes around, having picnics. Just the two of them. That’s the life-work balance Jensen always wanted. And he’s still walking on cloud nine with Jared.

Right now they just finished working around the backyard. They fixed the BBQ place because they want to have a family BBQ for 4th of July.

Jensen gets out of the shower and is getting dressed when he realizes that he isn’t wearing the Vegas wedding ring anymore.

He starts thinking out loud because it helps him retrace his steps.

“I put it back on this morning when I got out of the shower and I’m sure I was wearing it when we worked to fix the BBQ. Maybe it fell off when I put my clothes in the hamper.” He empties the hamper's contents on the bathroom floor and searched every piece of clothing for the ring. He looks behind the hamper and underneath. He even gets a flashlight to check unter the vanity unit. Nothing. 

He even checks their bed and the nightstand drawers. The ring is nowhere to be found.

“Jen, what are you looking for?” Jared’s standing in the doorway of the bedroom.

“The ring. I can’t find the ring.” He sits down on the bed and buries his face in his hands. It’s stupid. It’s not even a real wedding ring. But it’s a symbol for how their love story began and he wants it back.

“I was sure that I wore it while we were working to fix the BBQ. I searched the entire hamper, I looked all over the bathroom. I searched the bed and the nightstands. I can’t find it.” Jared sits down next to him and puts an arm around Jensen’s shoulders. The soft kiss to Jensen’s hair calms him down immediately. “Let’s go downstairs and check the gloves you were wearing. Maybe it came off when you pulled the gloves from your hands.” Jared takes Jensen’s hand and pulls him off the bed. “Ok, let’s check the gloves and the terrace, maybe I lost it there.”

But much to Jensen’s desperation the ring wasn’t there either. They pretty much searched the entire house, but the ring was still missing.

Jensen sits down in the living room and Jared walks in with a big container of peanut butter ice cream. “Here, I brought something to cheer you up. If you want to we can watch Gilmore Girls.” Jensen gets up and puts the container on the coffee table so he can hug Jared. The warmth of Jared’s body is very comforting and being held by his strong arms makes him feel secure. “Thank you for putting up with me being all hysterical. I love you. And yes, I’d love to watch Gilmore Girls.” 

They snuggle up on the couch and Jared feeds Jensen ice cream. He has no idea what he did to deserve a man like Jared.

Two days later Jared comes into the back of the store to show Jensen his own ring, broken into two pieces. “Oh Jared, how did this happen?” Jared just shrugs his shoulders. “I was carrying a heavy wooden box and somehow it just burst under the pressure I guess. I mean those were five dollar rings. I’m impressed that we did get to wear them that long.” He throws the parts into the trash can. “Now we’re both without rings. If you want to we can get new ones.” Jensen tries to smile, but he feels heartbroken. Those rings were like a good luck charm, because that’s how their entire story started. He’s not sure if new rings can replace that feeling. 

“I’ll have to think about it.” He kisses Jared on the cheek. “I have to get back outside. The guys are just unloading the truck.”

What Jensen doesn’t see is that Jared reaches into the trash can to get the broken pieces back. He puts them into the pocket of his jeans and leaves the store.

  
  


_**Jared** _

It’s the 4th of July and they’re both busy with preparations for the party with Jensen’s family. They’re decorating the backyard with red, white and blue flowers Jared bought from the gardening center. Afterwards Jensen marinates the ribs for the BBQ and Jared tries his hands on a red, white and blue fruit cake. He hasn’t done any baking in a long time and he really hopes that no one can taste it.

“Can you help me chop the vegetables for the burgers? It’s quite a lot for five adults. And did you call your Mom to ask her if she could make her famous blueberry lemonade margaritas?” Jared puts out another cutting board and knife for Jensen. After Jensen puts the ribs in the fridge, he joins Jared at the kitchen island, both chopping onions, lettuce, tomatoes and pickles. “Yes, I’ve called her and she’ll bring everything. Mackenzie will also bring a salad. So I guess we’re all set for tonight.” Jared puts his knife away and wipes his wet hands on his apron, before putting an arm around Jensen’s waist. “I can’t wait for tonight. I’m sure it’s gonna be perfect.” 

  
  


The Ackles family arrives at 5pm and Alan even brought his guitar and the portable fire pit. 

Donna mixes her famous blueberry lemonade margaritas and they settle down on the terrace and Jared’s pretty turned on by BBQ chef Jensen. He’s wearing his black leather slippers to show off his gorgeous feet. Dark green shorts that highlight his strong calves and a tank top, showing off his well sculpted shoulder muscles, which move in an extremely sexy way every time he flips the ribs or burgers. Jared’s mouth waters at that sight. It’ll be another few hours before he’ll be alone with Jensen, sinking his teeth into his flesh.

It’s a particularly nice evening. It’s not too hot, they’re having margaritas, Alan is playing some songs by the fire, and Jared has Jensen by his side. He truly found a new family.

It’s close to 9pm and the sun is about to set, which means the fireworks are about to start soon after.

Jared gets up and walks over to the BBQ when he bends over and reaches into the big planter next to it.

“Jensen, over here. Look what I’ve found!” Alan stops playing and Jensen rushes to Jared’s side. He turns to Jensen and drops on one knee. “What is it, Jared?” Jared holds out his hand. “Oh my god, Jared. That’s my Vegas ring. Where did you find it?” Jared just smiles at Jensen, who looks so damn adorable right now. “I didn’t because you’ve never lost it.” Jared tries very hard not to burst into loud laughter, because the look on Jensen’s face is priceless. “What do you mean, I’ve never lost it? We searched the entire house multiple times and we couldn’t find it.” Suddenly Mackenzie is by his side. “You couldn’t find it, because I had it. Take a closer look at the ring.” Jensen takes the ring from Jared’s hand and brings it close to his face and reads “Life is a game” on the outside. “Read what’s on the inside.” Jared can see that Mackenzie’s just as excited as he is. “3/24/12 - Our lucky numbers”.

Jensen stares at Jared in disbelief. “That’s the day we got fake married in Vegas.”

Jared reaches out and takes Jensen’s hand. “Yes, and those are our lucky numbers because what happened that day got our love story rolling. Jensen Ross Ackles, will you marry me?”

Jensen’s eyes widen and he lets out a whispered “Oh” before he pulls Jared up to his feet. “Of course. Yes, Jared, I wanna marry you” Jared takes the ring from Jensen’s hand and puts it on his right ring finger. Mackenzie hands Jensen another ring. “You have to put this one on Jared’s finger.” Jensen takes the ring and has a closer look. “Is that your ring? But you threw it away.” Jared says, “I did, but your sister fixed it with her magic hands and engraved it too. So we can both wear our Vegas wedding rings which are also engagement rings now.” Jensen puts the ring on Jared’s finger and then takes his hands. “Jared Padalecki, you’re full of surprises. I love you.” And just as their lips touch for their first kiss as an engaged couple, the sky lights up with the 4th of July fireworks. 

Anything can happen during the fireworks.

_**Jensen** _

It’s the morning after Jared’s proposal and they’re still in bed. The warm rays of sunshine coming through the blinds create a pattern on the bed. Jensen’s head rests on Jared’s naked chest and for a few minutes he just listens to the steady heartbeat of his fiancé. 

After a while he shuffles around a bit, and his head is on the pillow next to Jared’s and he kisses him. A soft and warm kiss. Staying like this for a few seconds before he opens his eyes again. The sun is shining on Jared’s face and his eyes have the colors of a sunflower - dark in the middle surrounded by a dark yellow circle.

“You have the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen.” Jared smiles at him. “No, you have the most beautiful eyes.” Jensen sighs. “Okay, we both win. But I’m still kinda mad about the ring. I was devastated when I thought I lost it. Where did you find it?” Jared kisses Jensen and it’s like a peace-offering. “Well, you really did lose it when you took off the gloves and I found it. I wanted to give it back to you but then I saw how broken-hearted you were and how much this ring meant to you, so I’ve decided to make it your engagement ring.” He kisses Jensen’s nose. “I’m sorry that you felt so upset about losing the ring. But this was like the perfect opportunity for me. I had already planned to propose to you on the 4th of July, so this was just like the cherry on top. And I’m honestly proud of Mackenzie. Because for one, what she did with the rings is amazing. And then she managed to keep that secret to herself for two weeks. Which I know nearly killed her.” 

Jensen puts his hand on Jared’s chest and pushes him back into the pillows. “But you’re so gonna pay for what you’ve done.” He kisses Jared and pulls the covers over their heads.

Four weeks later Jensen’s standing in front of the mirror of their bedroom, getting ready for their wedding. All the blinds in the house are closed, because Jared wants the entire setting to be a surprise for Jensen. They’ve decided to both wear white suits and a pink peony from their garden. 

Jensen sits down in the armchair and leans back, a glass of Scotch in his hand. The windows are closed and everything is quiet.

That’s the moment Jensen starts to think about what a ride these past five months have been. From deciding to quit his job, to getting fake married to Jared in Vegas, going back to his hometown to end up actually marrying Jared today. In their own backyard. It’s only Jared, Jensen, his Mom, dad and sister and the minister, Scott, an old friend of Jensen’s from high school.

Never in a million years would he have thought that his life would take a turn like that. He looks at his engagement ring ‘Life is a game’ and Jared is the best price he could have asked for.

He hears a knock at the door, which pulls him back into his bedroom. It’s his Mom.

“Hey sweetheart. It’s time to go downstairs.” She holds out her small, wrinkly hand and Jensen takes it, glad that he gets to share this special day with his Mom.

When they get to the backdoor they take a minute before opening the door. “Are you ready to get married?” Jensen squeezes Donna’s hand. “Yes, Mom. One-hundred per cent ready. Let’s go.”

Donna opens the door and the first thing he sees is Mackenzie, dressed in a white dress and wearing flowers in her hair. She’s holding a small basket with flowers and walks in front of Jensen and his Mom. His little sister is his flower girl. Jensen has to take a deep breath. His baby sister being the flower girl at his wedding was always one of his dreams. And Mackenzie looks beautiful, just like a forest fairy.

But when he steps out into the garden, Jensen’s totally flabbergasted. 

The entire backyard is decorated in a Las Vegas theme. It has a small bar, a dining table that looks like a poker table. There are balloons with cards and dice on them. Jensen can see the wedding cake - it’s a small white Las Vegas wedding chapel.

Jared’s standing under a wedding arch which looks pretty similar to the one that was in the chapel in Las Vegas. It’s even covered with the same pink roses.

And then he notices his dad standing next to the arch, dressed in a white Elvis Presley costume, playing ‘Can’t help falling in love’ on his guitar. He looks over to Jared and that’s when he can’t hold back the tears anymore. This is the most perfect wedding he could have imagined and Jared knew it. 

When they reach the end of the aisle, Mackenzie takes her position next to the wedding arch. Donna takes Jensen’s hand and wipes away a tear from his cheek. “I am the happiest mother on earth to be here with you all today and to give you to Jared. You two clearly won the jackpot.” Now it’s Jensen who wipes away a tear from his Mom’s face. “I love you, Mom and thank you.” He kisses her on the cheek and then takes Jared’s hand.

He remembers the first time they stood at the altar and it feels just the same but also totally different. Jensen takes everything in because he wants to remember this moment for the rest of his life. The birds singing, the wind in the trees, his dad playing guitar and Jared smiling at him. If it’s possible, he looks even more handsome today.

The ceremony is short but in the end everyone’s crying happy tears. 

After Jared and Jensen cut the wedding cake, Jared makes a toast.

“It’s been one hell of a ride that led us all here. I wanna thank you, Jensen, for being the greatest gift I’ve got when I thought I already had everything. I was sure I was happy the way my life was back then until the day I thought I’d lost you. But here we are, five months later and my life is richer than it has ever been and I’ve got something you can’t buy with money - I married the love of my life and I’ve got a brand new family. Here’s to a peaceful but adventurous married life and many more joyful family gatherings.” They all clink their glasses and Jared’s and Jensen’s smile is brighter than the Texan sun today.

It’s 5pm when everyone is gathered around the Impala to say goodbye to the newly wed couple. 

Jensen’s family waves as the Impala drives down the road, with a big “Just Married” sign attached to the bumper, including about a handful of empty cans scraping across the asphalt as the car is getting smaller and smaller.

They’re going on a road trip to spend their honeymoon in Las Vegas. The place where their love story began.

******************** THE END ********************   
  
  


  



End file.
